Lidia Thorpe's father calls 'spoilt' daughter a 'very racist person'
Senator Thorpe's own father refutes claims of oppression, reveals privileged upbringing.
Senator Lidia Thorpe has frequently spoken about her experiences of oppression, but her father, Roy Illingworth, tells a different story.
In an interview with Sky News Australia, he detailed his daughter's "privileged" upbringing and expressed disappointment with her changed attitude.
Thorpe, a controversial figure, was recently banned permanently from a Melbourne strip club after a heated incident involving offensive language.
Lidia Thorpe’s father says she’s a racist pic.twitter.com/lnBM8vZrvF
— Avi Yemini (@OzraeliAvi) April 20, 2023
In the widely shared footage, she can be heard asserting the oppression she and other Indigenous people have faced throughout their lives.
However, Illingworth contradicts his daughter's claims, telling Sky News Australia host Andrew Bolt about the pampered life she led growing up.
"She was spoilt… she got everything she wanted, and she knows that too," he said, adding that her current position makes her even more privileged now.
Illingworth also expressed concern about the transformation in Thorpe's views since entering politics, calling her a "very racist person." He expressed disappointment that she never acknowledges her white father in her speeches. "When she was younger, she was never like that," he said.
The 49-year-old senator made headlines when she resigned from the Greens to become an independent, advocating for a "black sovereign movement" in Australia.
She has been an outspoken critic of colonialism, most notably during an Invasion Day rally in Melbourne earlier this year.
Thorpe also made waves when she clashed with police at a pro-women's rally in Canberra and displayed the Aboriginal flag while crawling across wet grass. Critics condemned her actions when she lay down in front of a Mardi Gras float belonging to two community groups that support trans and queer children.
In his interview with Bolt, Illingworth made it clear that he does not agree with his daughter's often controversial views.
He expressed concern that she is raising her own children to harbor resentment towards their country.
Illingworth revealed that the only time he saw his great-granddaughters was during one of Thorpe's protests. "That's the first time I've seen them. I've never really seen them," he said.
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