Victorian senator Lidia Thorpe has quit the Greens party and will move to the cross bench.

Senator Thorpe made the announcement following a partyroom meeting on the first parliamentary sitting day, where the Greens discussed their approach to the upcoming referendum on an Indigenous voice to parliament. 

“This country has a strong, grassroots, Black sovereign movement full of staunch and committed warriors and I want to represent that movement fully in this parliament,” she told reporters in Canberra.

“It has become clear to me that I can’t do that from within the Greens.”

Greens leader Adam Bandt has previously indicated the party would support the voice but Senator Thorpe has been critical of the proposal.

Last month Senator Thorpe announced she would not support the voice unless there was a guarantee that Indigenous sovereignty would not be ceded.

But she said she had not reached her final position on the voice.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, constitutional experts and the referendum working group have said the voice would have no impact on First Nations sovereignty.

Senator Thorpe replaced former Greens leader Richard Di Natale when he retired in 2020.

She has been the party’s Indigenous affairs spokesperson and was deputy leader of the Greens in the Senate last year.

Her announcement means the Greens will be reduced from 12 senators to 11 and the government will have an additional independent crossbencher to negotiate with. 

By Maeve Bannister in Canberra

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