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Lidia Thorpe appears to have used a racist slur to hit back at an Aboriginal leader as the war of words over the Indigenous Voice escalates.
The polarizing Green senator took issue with Noel Pearson accusing her of being on a ‘fringe unity ticket’ with Jacinta Price by opposing Voice.
Senator Thorpe sent out a tweet on Monday afternoon calling Pearson “dude” alongside a photo of him with media baron Rupert Murdoch and former Liberal Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
The reference appears to be a deliberate allusion to “Uncle Tom”, a racist slur used against black people.
The slur accuses a black person of being humiliatingly subservient to whites and often betraying their race as a result.
Lidia Thorpe has used a racist slur to hit back at Aboriginal leader Noel Pearson, calling him ‘uncle’ in an apparent allusion to ‘Uncle Tom’. She wrote the slur along with a photo of him laughing with Rupert Murdoch and Tony Abbott in 2014.
Senator Thorpe took issue with Noel Pearson accusing her of being on a ‘fringe unity ticket’ with Jacinta Price by opposing Voice
Aboriginal businessman Warren Mundine told Daily Mail Australia last year that he was often called “Uncle Tom” for opposing Voice.
Mr Pearson was discussing plans for some ‘Invasion Day’ protests to also oppose the Indigenous Voice as they parade through Australian cities.
“What I will say about the far left is that there is a point on the clock face where the far left meets the far right, and suddenly the fringe on the left and the fringe on the right find common ground.” said. ABCradio.
‘They’re on a drive ticket. They are saying the same thing. That’s where you find Lidia and Jacinta Price holding hands.
Senator Price of the Country Liberal Party and Senator Thorpe agree on very little politically, but they are united in their opposition to the Voice.
The Greens firebrand hit back at Pearson by posting a photo of him laughing with New Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch and former Liberal Prime Minister Tony Abbott at The Australian’s 50th anniversary party in 2014.
‘Noel has me holding hands with Jacinta Price lol. Who’s holding your hand, man? she wrote.
Indigenous Australians sometimes respectfully refer to older members of their community as ‘uncle’ or ‘aunt’, but Senator Thorpe has never done so with Mr Pearson and it seemed unlikely along with the photo.
Neither responded to requests for comment.
Another photo, also from 2014, literally shows Pearson holding hands with Abbott.
Aboriginal businessman Warren Mundine told Daily Mail Australia last year that he was often called “Uncle Tom” for opposing Voice. this is an example
Yet another standoff between leading Aboriginal figures highlighted the increasingly ugly divisions in Australia’s indigenous community over the issue.
Pearson launched inflammatory criticisms of Senator Price in November, again on ABC radio, after she and the National Party declared their formal opposition to Voice.
On Monday he cast a wider net, accusing Voice opponents of trying to derail the referendum by complaining that there were not enough details about how the proposed advisory body would work.
This demand for details is a distraction. The details refer to the legislation, not the constitution. And the referendum is on the constitution. Legislation is for parliament,’ he said.
He was responding to the Coalition’s threat to withdraw its support for Voice unless Prime Minister Anthony Albanese gave more details on what that would look like.
Mr. Pearson launched inflammatory criticisms of Senator Price (pictured together) in November after she and the National Party declared their formal opposition to Voice.
Opposition spokesman for indigenous affairs Julian Leeser, who in principle supports Voice, said the government needed to listen to people who had questions and concerns about Voice and the lack of available details.
“The government is in danger of losing me, because I just don’t think they’re listening, and I’m really trying to get them to listen to the reasonable concerns that people are raising,” he told ABC radio.
“I spent the summer going around talking to reasonable Australians, people I would have expected to be people who would probably support [the Voice].
“They tell me things like, look, I want to vote yes, but I’m not sure I can because no one can explain to me how this will work.
“I think the government is ignoring the reasonable concerns of reasonable Australians.”
Pearson warned that 2023 was the most important year for Australia and indigenous peoples in 235 years and that there would be dire consequences if the Voice vote failed.
“I think Julian Leeser [and Opposition Leader] Peter Dutton… may just be choosing to play a game of spoiling. I hope they are not,” he said.
‘This referendum is the most important issue on Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians since the First Fleet.
“We have to understand what is at stake, and that is the opportunity for reconciliation and if the referendum is affected by the game and the game of the opposition, we will lose the opportunity forever.”
Noel Pearson on Monday accused Voice opponents of trying to derail the referendum by complaining that there were not enough details about how the proposed advisory body would work.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the draft question at the Garma Festival last year.
Pearson said the alternative was that indigenous Australians would have no choice but to protest for the foreseeable future.
‘The question that is going to be asked is, do we recognize the indigenous people in the Constitution? And if we say no to that, then I can’t say how it is, how the future will be other than protest,” he said.
‘The indigenous presence in this country will always be associated with protest rather than a proper response by the Australian people to this call for recognition and the achievement of reconciliation.’
Senator Thorpe’s tweet was the latest in a series of proactive statements on social media in recent days.
On Sunday he appeared to take some credit for Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews quietly canceling the Australia Day parade in Melbourne.
The event was previously shelved in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic and then again in 2022 as the Omicron outbreak persisted.
Senator Thorpe hailed the move as a sign of “progress” and the result of a tough campaign by protesters demanding that the tradition be scrapped.
“Blak’s grassroots activists in solidarity with the Aboriginal Resistance Warriors managed to abolish the Aus Day Parade,” he wrote on Twitter on Sunday.
“That is progress and that is the power to tirelessly mobilize the masses year after year.”
The Sydney Morning Herald’s national affairs editor, James Massola, responded by mocking her for taking credit for Andrews’ decision.
‘The Victorian Labor government cancels the parade. Green federal senator @SenatorThorpe (somehow) takes credit for it. Hahaha,’ he wrote.
Senator Thorpe replied: ‘I heard that your uncle Aldo wrote books and made money in the holy country of Gunnai women. Pay the rent mate!