The previous Greens senator Dorinda Cox has accused the Greens of being “deeply racist” and insisted that she has by no means been a bully.
Cox, a Noongar Yamatji lady and Western Australian senator, introduced final Monday she had defected to Labor, saying her views have been extra intently aligned with Labor than the Greens.
In a resignation letter despatched to Greens chief Larissa Waters’ workplace on Tuesday evening, Cox claimed the celebration had “cultural problems they refuse to acknowledge or address” and that she had skilled an “unremitting campaign of bullying and dishonest claims”.
“I have seen and survived trauma, discrimination and harassment in previous work environments. I have seen the impact of psycho social violence on my family and my community. I am not, and have never been, a bully. I do not perpetrate it,” she mentioned.
Cox has been the topic of a variety of office behaviour complaints, as first reported by the 9 newspapers final October. On the time, the WA senator apologised for “the distress this may have caused” however mentioned there had been “significant missing context” within the reviews of bullying allegations inside her workplace.
Cox mentioned in her letter that on the time she resigned, there have been no grievances pending towards her within the celebration’s battle decision course of, and none had been put to her in the course of the interval she was a senator.
“The Greens failed me as its last First Nations MP, and continue to fail First Nations people,” Cox wrote.
“In my experience, the Greens tolerate a culture that permits violence against First Nations women within its structures. In this respect, the party is deeply racist.
“Instead of dealing with its toxic culture, the Greens sought to shut me down. The Greens failed in their duty of care for my staff and me, and disregarded the reported and obvious impact of what was occurring.”
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Cox accused the federal and Western Australian Greens’ management for embracing “untrue” claims and amplifying them.
The WA Greens introduced an exterior inquiry into grievances it obtained towards Cox in mid-January by former workers members inside the celebration after the allegations have been publicly reported. The inquiry has now ceased.
The WA Greens mentioned “the co-convenors of Greens (WA) went to great lengths to ensure the process was culturally safe and delivered due process to all parties”.
An Australian Greens spokesperson mentioned the claims have been “disappointing” and ignored the “substantive work undertaken by the party to find a resolution to the complaints made both by and against Senator Cox, and to address the breakdown in her relationship with Greens’ First Nations members”.
“As the IPSC [Independent Parliamentary Standards Committee] and PWSS [Parliamentary Workplace Support Service] are the bodies created by Parliament to address complaints from staff, they can continue to investigate ongoing matters. This is unchanged by the senator’s decision to move to a party that continues to destroy First Nations cultural history through approving coal and gas projects.”
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Anthony Albanese was requested about historic bullying complaints towards Cox final Monday.
The prime minister mentioned Labor had “examined everything that had been considered in the past” and felt that the “issues were dealt with appropriately”.
In October 2024, Cox mentioned she took duty for “any shortcomings” in her workplace and apologised for any misery which will have been triggered however mentioned there had been “significant missing context” within the reviews of bullying allegations inside her workplace.
Cox mentioned she had an “immense amount of respect and gratitude to my team who prepare and support me for the work I undertake” and that she had “always taken a proactive approach to staff wellbeing, including my own” and had undertaken govt teaching and mentoring from former MPs.
Cox’s former colleague, Lidia Thorpe, revealed final week she was one of many folks to complain to the parliamentary watchdog about Cox, disputing Albanese’s declare that allegations about Cox had been “dealt with”.
Thorpe, a former Greens senator who’s now unbiased, mentioned she raised a grievance towards Cox in late 2022 to the Greens’ chief’s workplace and PWSS. Thorpe formally submitted the grievance to the PWSS in March 2023. Thorpe mentioned final Wednesday her case remained unresolved as a result of Cox declined to attend a mediation.
Thorpe, a Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung senator, instructed ABC on Wednesday morning she had additionally skilled racism within the Greens.
“There’s a lot of work that the Greens and many other organisations need to do to stamp [racism] out, particularly the parliament of this country,” she mentioned.
