Lidia Thorpe 60 Minutes interview with Karl Stefanovic

Lidia Thorpe has likened herself to a ‘black Judge Judy’ in a tell-all interview with Karl Stefanovic, who she claimed is ‘not bad for a white guy’.

The controversial Senator defended her headline-grabbing approach to politics and claimed she was ‘misunderstood’ by huge swathes of the population in the wide-ranging 60 Minutes interview.

The Greens-breakaway also dropped the bombshell she will be stepping down from politics once her term ends in 2028 because she does not want to become ‘an old crusty politician’. 

‘There’s no bullsh** with me, what you see is what you get. I’m not perfect, I’m not a career politician, I’m not there to be a big shot,’ she told Stefanovic.

But she admitted to relishing her role as Canberra’s antagoniser-in-chief.

‘You know what I love? Senate Estimates, because I feel like Black Judge Judy when I’m asking those questions in there, I just sit up there like ‘yeah, come on, what questions am I going to ask you today’,’ said Senator Thorpe.

Yet, she disagreed with how she is perceived by many in the country. 

‘I’m not this angry crazy black women out there who hates white people – it’s just not who I am,’ she said. 

‘I’ve been called so many things since I was a child that after a while it’s just water off a duck’s back.’ 

Senator Thorpe even told Stefanovic that he was ‘not bad for a white guy’ as the pair of them chatted while riding e-scooters. 

During the interview, Senator Thorpe opened up about her upbringing, including how she left school at 14, became pregnant at 17 and suffered episodes of domestic violence.

Senator Thorpe said: ‘I’m not this angry crazy black women out there who hates white people – it’s just not who I am’

‘I suppose I was used to violence from my first relationships, and it’s happened so many times that I just kept getting back up,’ she said.

She also said of her decision to declare bankruptcy in 2013, as a single mother of three after leaving a toxic marriage, the ‘best decision’ she ever made.

Senator Thorpe conceded that being combative ‘lessened her message’ for some people. 

‘That’s how I think I’m misunderstood,’ she said. 

‘It’s coming straight from my heart, straight from  my soul. There needs to be some anger in this place otherwise you become complacent and complicit.’ 

Stefanovic also asked about her recent use of parliamentary privilege to accuse Senator David Van of sexual harassment and Senator Thorpe said there were others like him still working in parliament. 

Lidia Thorpe (pictured) has slammed the Albanese government over the budget, claiming the lives of First Nations people will continue getting worse under the measures

‘There have been a number of occasions where there have been touches inappropriately that I haven’t given permission for and have raised it,’ she said.

Ms Thorpe revealed she will leave politics in 2028.

‘I love my job. And I’ve been able to make big changes in the short time I’ve been there. I don’t intend on running again,’ she said.

‘I’m 50 next month. I don’t want to become a crusty old politician.’

The interview also addressed Senator Thorpe infamous strip club stoush in April where she was filmed repeatedly shouting at a group of men ‘small penis’ outside a strip club 3am on a Sunday.

‘It wasn’t until we left, walking out the door that I was verbally abused. One thing I did do wrong was I reacted to somebody’s else’s bad behaviour,’ she told Stefanovic.

However, Daily Mail Australia exclusively revealed that Ms Thorpe had allegedly been going up to ‘white men’ before the incident saying: ‘You stole my land’, which earned her a lifetime ban from the establishment. 

Senator Thorpe (pictured) was filmed unleashing an extraordinary spray on a group of men outside a Melbourne strip club at 3am on a Sunday in April

She also claimed there was racism within the Greens, her former party, in ‘places that should know better’.

Senator Thorpe branded the proposed Voice to Parliament a ‘powerless advisory body’ and said it would fail.

‘We are not one homogenous group of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. We’re allowed to think differently and we are allowed to say no on the grounds that it is not enough,’ she said.

Senator Thorpe also revealed she would be stepping down from politics once her term ends in 2028 because she does not want to become ‘an old crusty politician’.