Conflict between Greens MPs and their First Nations advisory group over the Indigenous voice have spilled over into allegations of a physical confrontation at Perth airport and complaints to police.
The Greens have been running a mediation process to soothe internal friction since the party’s decision to back the voice, but talks have now stalled.
Senator Dorinda Cox, the party’s First Nations spokesperson, alleged she was “physically grabbed and shaken” in an argument with the former leader of the Blak Greens, Tjanara Goreng Goreng, which she reported to federal police. Cox claimed it was “just one of a number of challenging interactions” with members of the party’s Indigenous advisory group.
But Goreng Goreng, a former Senate candidate in the ACT, filed a police report of her own after the incident, claiming the senator had been aggressive and humiliated her.
Cox and Goreng Goreng crossed paths at Perth airport on 6 May, but the nature of their interaction is disputed. Goreng Goreng claimed she tapped Cox on the shoulder to greet her, and that Cox was unhappy to see her; Cox claimed she was grabbed and shaken.
“This incident has had a serious impact on Senator Cox’s wellbeing,” the senator’s spokesperson told Guardian Australia, saying it was reported to Greens leader Adam Bandt, the party’s co-conveners, federal police and the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service. Cox has not ruled out pursuing formal charges.
But a police complaint signed by Goreng Goreng on 9 May, seen by Guardian Australia, makes allegations against the senator.
“I put my arms out to greet her … I tapped her on both arms on the lower shoulder and said in a friendly voice ‘hello Dorinda’,” Goreng Goreng wrote.
“Dorinda stepped back and folded her arms in front of her. She looked down at me and said ‘what are you doing here? Who gave you permission to be on this country’ … Her tone of voice was officious, her stance was overbearing. I felt like she was going to attack me.”
An AFP spokesperson declined to comment and would not confirm if police were investigating.
Goreng Goreng was co-convener of the Greens First Nations advisory group, known as the Blak Greens, until April this year. In a statement to Guardian Australia, she denied shoving or pushing Cox.
“I did not harass or assault Dorinda Cox. I and the Blak Greens are sorry she feels aggrieved by this simple offer of friendship … It goes to her character that she wishes to continue this conflict,” she said.
Cox’s statement complains of “challenging interactions” with members of the Blak Greens, including allegations of “a policy positioning document in senator Cox’s name without her consent, and removing her from the Blak Greens chat group”.
The group, previously led by former Greens senator Lidia Thorpe, had expressed opposition to the party’s endorsement of the Indigenous voice. Thorpe quit the party in February, claiming the voice endorsement was the “icing on the cake” of her departure.
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Goreng Goreng told Guardian Australia in January the voice “will not provide what First Nations people have been asking for for a long time”. Goreng Goreng was also at the centre of a disagreement about whether Greens parliamentarians should have supported the voice, and claimed members would follow Thorpe in quitting the party.
Some Blak Greens members were jockeying for Bandt or senator Mehreen Faruqi to replace Thorpe as First Nations spokesperson.
The Greens say they have received no formal complaints against Cox. A spokesperson for Bandt claimed Cox had experienced “a serious incident … that has clearly had a detrimental impact on her wellbeing”.
“No one should experience this at work and we have been actively supporting senator Cox to have this matter addressed though the party and parliamentary processes available to her,” he said.
The Greens co-conveners said Cox had “reserved her rights to pursue charges over the assault.”
“At this stage it would be inappropriate to comment further.”
Guardian Australia understands the Greens began mediation processes with the First Nations group following tensions in the party after the voice decision, and in a bid to foster stronger working relationships between parliamentarians and the Indigenous advisory group. However that process is understood to have stalled, after disagreements on details of the mediation.
The Greens have since attempted to address the incident between Cox and Goreng Goreng with a further mediation effort, but that process too is now in limbo due to legal avenues being explored by both parties.
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