Lidia Thorpe likely to avoid Senate censure over potential conflict of interest

Controversial Greens senator Lidia Thorpe is expected to avoid being censured by the parliament over her relationship with former bikie Dean Martin, which had prompted conflict of interest claims and a referral to a powerful Senate committee.

This masthead has confirmed the privileges committee report into Thorpe will be handed down early in 2023 and is unlikely to recommend that the senator be censured.

In a post to Instagram on Wednesday, Thorpe uploaded a picture of herself posing on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle alongside two men wearing motorcycle leathers and said she “ran into some old mates”.

The picture was widely interpreted as a reference to the senate committee’s inquiry into the Greens senator and attracted thousands of likes and responses before Thorpe’s office turned off comments on the post.

Thorpe was referred to the privileges committee in October after two of her former staff flagged concerns about a potential conflict of interest arising from Thorpe’s former relationship with Martin, who was a member of the Rebels motorcycle gang for about 25 years but who has no criminal convictions.

The privileges committee received a detailed report from the law enforcement committee back in November about confidential briefings Thorpe received from security and police agencies while she was a member of the law enforcement committee between February 2021 and April 2022.

But this masthead has been told by sources with knowledge of the investigation who were not free to speak on the record that the committee has concluded the Greens senator did not receive highly sensitive information during her time on the joint parliamentary law enforcement committee in 2021.

The committee examining Thorpe’s conduct has not spoken to either of the senator’s former staffers, who had originally raised the concerns, during its inquiries.

The expected decision not to recommend a censure of Thorpe will be a relief for the senator, who has courted controversy throughout her short career in federal parliament.

Thorpe has insisted she never passed any confidential information on to Martin, with whom she was in a relationship in 2021, but she quit as the party’s deputy senate leader over the failure to disclose the connection.

At the time, she said, “I accept that I have made mistakes and have not exercised good judgment.”

The report it will issue is expected to reflect on Thorpe’s effective admission the relationship did constitute a potential conflict of interest.

The Australian Federal Police have met with Greens leader Adam Bandt over Thorpe’s former relationship with Martin but have not met with her, nor indicated they will pursue the matter any further.

The Parliamentary Workplace Support Service (PWSS) is conducting a separate review into the culture of Thorpe’s office, formally known as a “cultural diagnostic”, and expected to make a series of recommendations for improvements.

In September, this masthead revealed Thorpe’s former chief of staff was left scared and appalled by her outburst during a meeting with two Indigenous community leaders. She also labelled the proposed Voice to parliament a “waste of money”, before walking back the comments.

Bandt and Thorpe were contacted for comment but were unavailable, according a spokesman for the Greens leader.

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