An emotional Lidia Thorpe has spoken out about her complex feelings towards her white father, who called her a “very racist person” in a public spat earlier this year.
The controversial senator said she hasn’t spoken to her father, Roy Illingsworth, since he made that comment in an interview with Sky News in April, but she said: “I love my dad. I love him with all my heart.’
Ms. Thorpe also told ABC’s Annabel Crabb on the channel Kitchen cabinet that she was “a little sad for him” when he gave that interview.
“He was a good father in my younger days. Probably not a good husband, but he was a good father to me,” she said.
The former Greens politician, who is now an independent, also revealed the vicious schoolyard slurs that led her to “knock out” a fellow student in high school.
One day, a boy called her an “Aboriginal Bum Cleaner,” which she said was a common insult at the time, often shortened to “ABC.”
An emotional Lidia Thorpe (left) has spoken out about her complex feelings for her father Roy Illingsworth (right) after he called her a ‘very racist person’ last April
“So I slapped this guy…for calling me an ABC,” she said. And he hit me right back.
“So we walked home that day with black eyes.”
Ms Thorpe and her cousin were the only Aboriginal children at her Melbourne school, where she said there was ‘a lot of racism among the other children and teachers’.
“We were forced to take part in the bicentenary celebrations (in 1988, marking the 200th anniversary of white settlement in Australia).
“Which was against our religion, if you will, the invasion of this country. But I was very proud to be black and I have never shied away from questioning the teachings of people in this country.
“And that usually led to conflict, especially with teachers,” she said.
The fiery senator admitted that she gets along better with right-wing politicians than with left-wing politicians.
“It’s really weird,” she said, and she thinks it’s because she knows where the people on the right side of politics stand.
“It’s like on the netball court, (I get) white line fever once I’m in the Senate, I’m there on business… And I have my agenda, which is black justice in this country.”
“And then I’ll be your friend out of court.”
Not only can she get along with right-wingers like One Nation’s Malcolm Roberts, whom she calls “a real gentleman”; her father encouraged her to join Pauline Hanson’s party.
‘(My dad) moved to Queensland and the further north he went he started to change and he became a One Nation supporter.
“And when I became a Greens politician, he said, oh, why go there? He said, I need to join One Nation.
“I just said, OK, Dad, maybe we shouldn’t talk about politics.”
Lidia Thorpe (pictured) said One Nation’s Malcolm Roberts is “a real gentleman.”
Ms Thorpe (pictured) said her father encouraged her to join One Nation and she was also asked to run for the Liberal Party in Victoria
Ms Thorpe also revealed that she likes to have a ‘good chat’ with former Victorian Prime Minister Jeff Kennett and that he tried to persuade her to run for the Liberal Party.
She politely declined and told him, “Do you know what my family would do to me if I ran from you, you have no hope.
‘Thanks for thinking of me. I really appreciate it.’
While she is known for never backing down from a fight, Ms Thorpe said she regrets shouting to Liberal Senator Hollie Hughes in December 2021 ‘at least I kept my legs closed’.
Ms Hughes said it was a ‘mean’ reference to her autistic son Fred.
In an interview with Sky News at the time, an emotional Ms Hughes said the comment implied that if she kept her legs closed she wouldn’t have an autistic child.
She said she found the comments “beyond disgusting, more than despicable.”
But nearly two years after the comments that shocked the nation, Ms Thorpe claimed it was all a misunderstanding.
“It was wrong to say. And I admit that and I accept that,” she said.
“Earlier in the day the senator was sitting so I could see her panties and I said to my colleague next to me, should we go up and tell Holly we can see her panties?”
Ms Thorpe (pictured) said she regrets shouting to Liberal Senator Hollie Hughes in December 2021 ‘at least I kept my legs shut’
Senator Hughes (pictured) said she found the comments “beyond disgusting, beyond despicable.”
When she later yelled at Mrs Hughes to keep her legs closed, she was referring to her underwear and not her son, Mrs Thorpe claimed.
“And I was just beside myself and she was shocked, which is understandable.”
She said she later apologized to Ms Hughes, but the fact that she made the comment in the first place left her feeling ‘unwell’.
“I felt so bad about what came out of my mouth.”