Latest news with #DorindaCox
Sky News AU
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Labor will have easier time getting bills passed in new Senate composition
The Australian Senate changeover begins today, meaning the Labor Party will have an easier time passing laws when parliament returns in under three weeks. There are 76 senators in the Upper House, with a bill only needing 39 to be passed. Since the election, the pathway will be simpler for Labor, due to the defection of Dorinda Cox from the Greens to Labor, meaning the makeup of Labor's seats is at 29. Labor will only need 10 votes from the Greens to get bills through.
The Guardian
11-06-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
WA senator Dorinda Cox accuses Greens of being ‘deeply racist' and says ‘I am not a bully'
The former Greens senator Dorinda Cox has accused the Greens of being 'deeply racist' and insisted that she has never been a bully. Cox, a Noongar Yamatji woman and Western Australian senator, announced last Monday she had defected to Labor, saying her views were more closely aligned with Labor than the Greens. In a resignation letter sent to Greens leader Larissa Waters' office on Tuesday night, Cox claimed the party had 'cultural problems they refuse to acknowledge or address' and that she had experienced an 'unremitting campaign of bullying and dishonest claims'. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email '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 said. Cox has been the subject of a number of workplace behaviour complaints, as first reported by the Nine newspapers last October. At the time, the WA senator apologised for 'the distress this may have caused' but said there had been 'significant missing context' in the reports of bullying allegations within her office. Cox said in her letter that at the time she resigned, there were no grievances pending against her in the party's conflict resolution process, and none had been put to her during the period 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.' Cox accused the federal and Western Australian Greens' leadership for embracing 'untrue' claims and amplifying them. The WA Greens announced an external inquiry into grievances it received against Cox in mid-January by former staff members within the party after the allegations were publicly reported. The inquiry has now ceased. The WA Greens said '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 said the claims were '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.' Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion Anthony Albanese was asked about historical bullying complaints against Cox last Monday. The prime minister said Labor had 'examined everything that had been considered in the past' and felt that the 'issues were dealt with appropriately'. In October 2024, Cox said she took responsibility for 'any shortcomings' in her office and apologised for any distress that may have been caused but said there had been 'significant missing context' in the reports of bullying allegations within her office. Cox said 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 executive coaching and mentoring from former MPs. Cox's former colleague, Lidia Thorpe, revealed last week she was one of the people to complain to the parliamentary watchdog about Cox, disputing Albanese's claim that allegations about Cox had been 'dealt with'. Thorpe, a former Greens senator who is now independent, said she raised a complaint against Cox in late 2022 to the Greens' leader's office and PWSS. Thorpe formally submitted the complaint to the PWSS in March 2023. Thorpe said on Wednesday her case remained unresolved because Cox declined to attend a mediation. Thorpe, a Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung senator, told ABC on Wednesday morning she had also experienced racism in 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 said.
ABC News
11-06-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Why Australia sanctioned Israeli Ministers
With Q+A wrapping up after an 18-year stint on our screens, PK and David Speers share their reflections and honour the crew behind the program. And Australia has joined with the UK, New Zealand, Canada and Norway to issue Magnitsky style sanctions against two Israeli Ministers, in a move which Foreign Minister Penny Wong shows the "level of concern" Australia has about what is occurring. The joint statement claims the Ministers have "incited extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights", but the Albanese Government is already facing criticism from the US and Israel — as well as closer to home. And ex-Greens Senator Dorinda Cox has accused her former party of a "toxic culture" and racism, in an explosive resignation letter. It comes just a week after she defected from the Greens to Labor. Patricia Karvelas and David Speers break it all down on Politics Now. Got a burning question? Got a burning political query? Send a short voice recording to PK and Fran for Question Time at thepartyroom@
Daily Mail
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Explosive leaked resignation letter from Greens politician exposes what they really think of the party: 'Toxic'
Dorinda Cox, who sensationally defected from the Greens to Labor last week, has accused her former party of racism and bullying in an explosive, leaked resignation letter. The WA Senator took aim at her her former colleagues, claiming they had failed her as the party's 'last First Nations MP, and (they) continue to fail First Nations people'. 'In my experience, the Greens tolerate a culture that permits violence against First Nations women within its structures,' she wrote. 'In this respect, the party is deeply racist.' The resignation letter, first reported by the ABC, was leaked after Senator Cox defected to the Labor party. Senator Cox had only recently missed out on a leadership role in the Greens following Adam Bandt's humiliating election defeat. The Yamatji-Noongar woman was elected to the upper house in 2021 to fill a Greens vacancy and had been the party's Indigenous affairs spokesperson. Senator Cox was also at the centre of controversy in her party over allegations surrounding her treatment of her staff, with some accusing Cox of being a bully. Senator Lidia Thorpe, who left the Greens to sit as an independent, also revealed last week that she had made a bullying complaint against Senator Cox in 2022. But, in her fiery resignation letter, Senator Cox insisted she had never been a bully and claimed that when she left there were no outstanding 'grievances' against her. 'I have faced an unremitting campaign of bullying and dishonest claims over the last 18 months,' Senator Cox wrote. 'I am not, and have never been, a bully. I do not perpetrate it.' Senator Cox claimed her allegations that she was assaulted by a party member at Perth Airport in 2023 following a disagreement about the Voice to Parliament fell on deaf ears. But Daily Mail Australia understands that details of the complaint went all the way to former leader Adam Bandt's office. She also accused the party of presiding over a 'toxic culture' that saw rumours circulated about her. 'Recently, my children were approached by a former staff member who had publicly made serious allegations about me at a Greens event,' she wrote. 'This type of mobbing made its way into "moderated" online meeting chats and the widely circulated meeting minutes of the (Australian Greens First Nations Network). 'The Greens failed in their duty of care for my staff and me, and disregarded the reported and obvious impact of what was occurring. The focus was solely on winning seats.' Daily Mail Australia approached Greens' leader Larissa Waters for comment. A Greens spokesperson disputed the allegations in Senator Cox's resignation letter, claiming they were 'an anti-racism party, and pushing a senator to take complaints seriously is not bullying'. 'These claims are disappointing, unrepresentative of the support Senator Cox received and ignore 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,' the spokesperson added. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been accused of hypocrisy after welcoming Senator Cox into the Labor fold. After Fatima Payman deserted Labor over its stance on Gaza, Albanese called for the WA Senator to quit and hand back her seat.
Sky News AU
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Rogue Senator Dorinda Cox accuses Greens of 'deep racism' in scathing resignation letter
Senator Dorinda Cox has accused her ex-party of tolerating racism after she quit the Greens to join the Labor Party. Ms Cox previously said she chose to quit the minor party to join the Albanese government after some 'deep reflection' about her personal values. In a blistering resignation letter, revealed by the ABC on Wednesday, Ms Cox said the Greens had tolerated racism and failed to protect First Nations women. "In my experience, the Greens tolerate a culture that permits violence against First Nations women within its structures,' she said in the formal letter. 'In this respect, the party is deeply racist.' The letter followed Ms Cox's 2020 claims that she quit the Labor Party to join the Greens because Labor had a 'patronising attitude towards women and people of colour'. Senator Dorinda Cox has accused her ex-party of tolerating racism after she quit the Greens to join the Labor Party. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage Ms Cox's dramatic defection to the Labor Party last week came after her unsuccessful bid to become the Greens' deputy leader. She was the party's only Indigenous senator at the time of her resignation, after independent senator Lidia Thorpe also quit the Greens in 2023. Ms Cox's accusations include claims that the Greens ignored her reports of serious incidents. This included an altercation at Perth Airport in 2023 involving former ACT Greens candidate and Blak Greens leader Tjanara Goreng Goreng. Ms Cox also claimed that there were further incidents involving staff who were 'isolated by the state and other MP's offices'. A Labor MP told Sky News that Ms Cox's resignation exposed a deeper hypocrisy within the Greens' approach to Indigenous representation. The MP said that the Greens 'pretended' to represent Indigenous voices but in truth had done nothing to help Aboriginal communities. They also pointed to the defection of Aboriginal woman Lidia Thorpe from the party, who quit over disagreements surrounding the Voice to Parliament referendum. Ms Thorpe agreed with Ms Cox that there was racism within the Greens when asked about the resignation letter on Wednesday. 'I think there's racism everywhere in this country. And there's a lot of work that the Greens and answer other organisations need to do to stamp that out,' she told the ABC. Sky News has contacted the Greens for comment. Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young blasted her former colleague last Thursday, calling on her to quit the Senate. 'I always think that it's not fair to the voters and indeed any of the parties involved that if somebody is elected to one party and then jumps ship later on,' she told reporters. 'I do think the honourable thing is to resign from the parliament, but that's not the rules, and so we're left where we are.' The comments follow a spate of criticism surrounding Ms Cox's abrupt resignation. Ms Cox only announced she would leave the party after she lost a deputy leadership ballot 9–3 to Senator Mehreen Faruqi. She then claimed 'deep reflection' had led her to realise her values were more closely aligned with Labor's. Greens leader Larissa Waters condemned her former colleague's decision and said she had only been informed of the move an hour before it was announced. 'The Greens are disappointed in Senator Cox's decision to leave the Greens and join the Labor party as a backbencher,' Ms Waters said at the time. Ms Cox's sudden transformation has met skepticism and accusations of political opportunism, particularly given her scathing past criticisms of the Labor Party. In 2020, Ms Cox said she left Labor because it was 'patronising to women and people of colour' and accused the party of caring more about donors than members. More recently, she accused Labor of having 'spectacularly failed' the public through its support for the North West Shelf gas project. Also resurfacing was her support for the controversial slogan 'from the river to the sea' - a phrase Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has publicly condemned. Adding to the controversy was another leaked 2023 text message in which Ms Cox referred to One Nation leader Pauline Hanson as a 'f---ing retard'. Labor's apparent willingness to accept Ms Cox, despite these incidents, has drawn comparisons to Mr Albanese's prior treatment of former Labor Senator Fatima Payman. Ms Payman was hounded by Mr Albanese after she quit the Labor Party last year to form her own party, Australia's Voice. 'There is a bit of hypocrisy, of course, about how Labor has responded to this,' Ms Hanson-Young said. 'It wasn't okay to jump ship for Fatima Payman, but apparently when it's people coming to them, it's all okay.' Ms Payman herself chimed in, saying she was surprised Ms Cox had not suffered the "smear campaign' which she endured after her exit from Labor. Meanwhile, internal alleged complaints of staff bullying continue to hang over Ms Cox's legacy in the Greens. More than 20 staff reportedly quit her office, the SMH revealed, prompting an internal investigation—but the probe was abandoned following her defection. 'There has been a process, and an internal process is hard to run if somebody's gone to another party,' Ms Hanson-Young said. Former Labor minister Stephen Conroy added to criticism, calling for Ms Cox to 'resign from the Senate' and seek Labor preselection through the proper channels. 'She shouldn't steal something from the Greens; she should resign and ensure that it's passed back to the Greens,' Mr Conroy told Sky News.
