Lidia Thorpe Labels Voice Vote as National ‘Cancer’ in Australia, Exposing Deep-rooted Racism

Indigenous senator Lidia Thorpe says the referendum campaign has exposed where racism exists in Australia, as she votes No in the Voice referendum.

Walking towards the voting booth at the Northern School for Autism in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, Ms Thorpe wore a black T-shirt with “Vote No” written across her chest.

She made a final appeal to Australians to vote against Voice to Parliament, in front of a group of Yes23 campaign volunteers wearing “Yes” T-shirts.

“Racism is a cancer. Racism is a disease, it makes people sick,” Ms Thorpe told reporters.

“This referendum has shown where the cancer is in this country and where we need to cure this country.

“Where we must put forth our efforts as a nation to eradicate this heinous thing called racism.”

The firebrand senator has led the contingent of Indigenous Australians opposing the Voice to Parliament on the grounds that the Treaty is the way forward and that the Voice will be a “powerless” body.

More than 7,000 booths opened at 8 a.m. on Saturday in several states and will remain available for Australians to vote until 6 p.m.

Australia’s Indigenous Affairs Minister Linda Burney said she had “butterflies” when she cast her vote on Saturday morning, as she implored those who had yet to vote to choose Yes.

“Today is a truly historic day in this country,” she said.

“There’s one in five voters who haven’t made up their minds yet, and they’re going to vote today, and I want those people to vote yes.”

Australians are heading to the polls to decide whether to enshrine an Indigenous advisory body, The Voice, in the Constitution.

About 9 million people will vote after Australians turned out in their millions to the polls last week, according to the latest data from the Australian Electoral Commission.

The senator has captured the attention of Australians in the run-up to the October 14 referendum, regularly staring down the barrel of a camera lens while giving her unfiltered opinions on the issue.

She took the stage in front of thousands of protesters on January 26, lifting her into the air for the first time in an impassioned speech detailing the treatment of indigenous people since colonization.

‘It’s a war. They always kill us. They’re still killing our babies. What should we celebrate in our country? she says.

Earlier this week, Ms Thorpe shocked many when she accused the Prime Minister of being “weak” for ruling out any future iteration of Voice to Parliament if the referendum failed.

“It’s just weak. What a weak response. It’s like, ‘Oh, I’m going to throw my bat and run away.’ I don’t want to play that kind of attitude anymore,” she told ABC Radio National on Thursday morning.

Host Patricia Karvelas then asked if she thought the Voice should be legislated, and the senator responded, “Why not?” Let’s see how it works.’

However, that afternoon, the senator’s office released a statement to clarify that she did not support The Voice but that “the truth and the treaty are the first steps that must be taken to bring peace to this country “.

The previous week, Ms Thorpe had been the target of a disturbing video message posted by neo-Nazi extremists including racist death threats.

She accused the Prime Minister and the AFP of refusing to “protect” her from threats and said the referendum brought “nothing but pain and misery”.