Indigenous senator quits party over Australian referendum

By ROD McGUIRK
Associated Press

CANBERRA, Australia: (AP) — An Indigenous senator in Australia has quit the minor Greens party in a disagreement over a referendum to be held this year that would create an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. Sen. Lidia Thorpe’s resignation on Monday illustrates deep divisions among Indigenous Australians on the referendum. The Greens have suggested they will support a referendum likely to be held this year that would enshrine in the constitution a body representing Indigenous people to advise Parliament on policies that effect their lives to be known as the Indigenous Voice. Thorpe has argued that Australia should first sign a treaty with its original inhabitants. Another high-profile Indigenous senator has also spoken out against the Voice, arguing it would divide the nation along racial lines.