Lidia Thorpe accuses Labor of ‘black cladding’ after Dorinda Cox defection
Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe has accused Labor of “black cladding” by luring Greens Senator Dorinda into the ALP.
Western Australian senator Cox, who is Indigenous, quit the Greens to sit with Labor in the upper house after approaching Prime Minister Anthony Albanese about making the switch.
Thorpe, who is also Indigenous and a former Greens Senator, issued a blistering statement Tuesday condemning the move.
“Senator Cox has been working hard on the Greens’ Truth and Justice Commission Bill, and when that comes to a vote, Labor’s rules will mean Senator Cox will not be allowed to vote in support of it,” she said.
Thorpe said, despite Labor already having several First Nations MPs and knowing what needs to be done to deliver justice for Indigenous Australians, “the party continues to fail our people”.
“Adding another black face won’t change that. This looks like more black cladding from a party that wants to appear committed to justice for our people without doing the work,” she said.
Black cladding is a term normally applied to non-indigenous businesses that leverage a relationship with an Indigenous person or organisation to inappropriately benefit from Indigenous procurement policies or contracts.
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Thorpe accused Labor of black cladding by welcoming Cox. Photo: AAP
Despite her defection, Thorpe said it was “deeply disappointing” that there were no longer First Nations Greens members in federal parliament and urged the party to listen to “grassroots voices”.
Monash University head of politics Zareh Ghazarian said the loss of another Indigenous senator, following Thorpe’s split three years ago, spoke to the Greens as a party.
“This is the most serious test that the Greens are facing as an organisation,” Ghazarian said.
“On the back of a fairly poor election result … it’s really an opportunity for them (Greens) to explore their internal operation, their structures, and how they get them going forward,” he said.
Ghazarian said the strong growth in support the Greens had enjoyed came with the challenge of clarifying what they stood for.
Albanese, who said Cox’s values had become more aligned with those of his government, noted the Greens had previously voted against Labor’s legislation to boost housing supply and had drifted from their environmental foundations.
“She has come to the view that the Greens political party are not capable of achieving the change that she wants to see in public life, and that’s not surprising given that the Greens have lost their way,” he said in Perth on Tuesday.
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Cox, who announced her defection late Monday, was formally appointed to the Labor Party on Tuesday.
The shock announcement represents another setback for the Greens after losing former leader Adam Bandt when three of their four lower house seats fell to Labor at the May 3 election.
Leader Larissa Waters said she had a “calm and measured” conversation with Cox an hour before her defection was announced.
“There’s no animosity there. It’s obviously disappointing for us to lose a Greens senator, but Dorinda has said her values lie there,” she told ABC News Breakfast.
However, Waters appeared to question this while pointing to Labor’s decision to extend the North West Shelf gas project off the WA coast, which she said would affect ancient Indigenous rock art.
Larissa Waters questioned Cox’s standing on the North West Shelf gas project. Photo:AAP
“We’ve opposed that, but Senator Cox has made her decision that that party is a better fit for her, and we wish her nothing but the best,” she said.
Cox, a Yamatji-Noongar woman, became the first Indigenous woman to represent WA in the Senate when she joined the upper house in 2021 to fill a Greens vacancy.
In 2024, she suggested Labor was “not interested” in closing the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
But on Monday, Cox said she felt her values and priorities were better aligned with Labor than the Greens.
She was not required to run in the May election after winning a six-year term in 2022.
Cox was accused of bullying Greens staffers in 2024, with as many as 20 employees leaving in three years amid complaints made to parliament’s workplace support service.
Albanese said the allegations had been examined.
Cox’s shift means Labor has 29 seats in the Senate. But it will still require the support of either the Greens or the Coalition to pass legislation.
