Lidia Thorpe refuses to back down despite suspension

THE POLITICAL LIFE AND TIMES OF LIDIA THORPE

* Lidia Thorpe has been a firebrand from the moment she set foot in Parliament House

* She first spent a year as a Greens member of Victoria's Legislative Assembly representing the electorate of Northcote before losing her seat to a Labor candidate at the 2018 state election

* When former Greens leader Richard Di Natale resigned, Senator Thorpe filled his vacancy

* She was sworn in to the Senate in 2020 while carrying a memory stick with a line burnt on it for each of the 441 Indigenous people who had died in custody since the 1991 royal commission

* The Gunnai, Gunditjmara, Djab Wurrung woman became the first Indigenous person to represent Victoria in the Senate

* She has been outspoken over issues such as deaths in custody, colonisation and the socio-economic gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians

* In 2022, Senator Thorpe came under scrutiny after she failed to disclose her relationship with former bikie boss Dean Martin and referred herself to a parliamentary inquiry

* She has continued to participate in protests and in March 2023, was held to the ground by police at Parliament House after crashing an anti-transgender rights event to counter its message and champion LGBTQI rights

* As the Labor government launched its effort to enshrine an Indigenous voice in the constitution, Senator Thorpe emerged as a key progressive critic as she believed the proposed representative body would not provide real change for First Nations people

* She resigned from the Greens in February 2023 as the minor party geared up to announce its official support for the voice

* The senator said becoming an independent would enable her to better fight for First Nations justice and sovereignty

* In June 2023, Senator Thorpe accused Liberal colleague David Van of harassment and sexual assault, which was supported by accusations from former Liberal senator Amanda Stoker. He denied the allegations but was expelled from the Liberal party room and later resigned from the party

* Senator Thorpe disrupted a parliamentary reception for King Charles and Queen Camilla during their royal trip to Australia in October

* She yelled that he was "not our king" and accused him of committing genocide against Indigenous Australians, and was officially censured by the Senate for her behaviour a few weeks later

* On Wednesday, she was suspended from the Senate after she threw pieces of paper at One Nation senator Pauline Hanson over a racism row