Why Lidia Thorpe claims ex-boyfriend bikie Dean Martin - uncle to AFL star Dustin Martin - cannot be deported from Australia

Independent senator Lidia Thorpe says the government has made a mistake in the pending deportation of former bikie boss Dean Martin, whom she briefly dated.

Senator Thorpe claimed Martin - who was arrested on Monday and is set to be deported to New Zealand after his visa was cancelled on character grounds - can't be kicked out of the country because he is Indigenous.

Mr Martin is a union delegate for the embattled CFMEU and is a former national president of the Rebels bikie gang. He is also the uncle of Richmond AFL legend Dustin Martin.

Martin is in custody with the Australian Border Force at an immigration detention facility after Home Affairs minister Clare O'Neil personally cancelled his visa.

Senator Thorpe said while she hasn't spoken to Martin, she believed 'the government had made a mistake with this decision'.

'Mr Martin has proof, support and recognition that he is Aboriginal from Elders and community in Lutruwita Tasmania,' she said.

'We've already seen the High Court rule in 2020 that the Commonwealth lacks constitutional power to deport First Peoples under the Migration Act.

'The 2020 ruling reflected the Mabo decision, which recognised that First Peoples' connection to this country has never been severed.'

Senator Thorpe said First Nations people could not be classified as 'alien' and deported because it is inconsistent with their connection to the country that is 'recognised by common law'.

'My question is, why does the government now think they can go against the law and deport First Peoples?'

The Department of Home Affairs said they couldn't comment on individual cases.

Martin's brother, Shane - also a former senior member of the Rebels - was deported to New Zealand in 2018.

Shane died three years later in Auckland.

Senator Thorpe previously said she had 'briefly dated' Martin in 2021 while she was sitting on a joint parliamentary law enforcement committee which was receiving confidential briefings about organised crime and bikie gangs.

This led to her standing down from a leadership position in the Greens party as a result of the undisclosed relationship.

Senator Thorpe, who later quit the Greens and became an independent, at the time issued a statement accepting she had 'made mistakes'.

'I will now reflect on this and focus on my important portfolio work, especially advocating for First Nations people,' she said.

Martin has lived in the country for three decades and was associated with the Rebels motorcycle gang for 25 years until 2018.

He does not have a criminal history but was reportedly a person of interest in police probes into the organisation. 

Since leaving the Rebels he has been operating as a CFMEU delegate at Indigenous labour hire firm A2B. 

The Victorian, NSW and Queensland state governments, with the backing of the federal government, have committed to placing CFMEU chapters in their regions into external administration in an effort to clean up the union.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Senator Thorpe's office for further comment.