‘Misspoke’: Lidia Thorpe’s bizarre new claim on Oath of Allegiance
Firebrand independent senator Lidia Thorpe has blamed her use of the word “hairs” instead of “heirs” on an accident as she defied calls for her resignation.
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Firebrand independent senator Lidia Thorpe is now claiming she accidentally misspoke when she was sworn in as an MP and says she accidentally said “hairs” instead of “heirs” during the Oath of Allegiance.
Ms Thorpe, who triggered global outrage when she heckled King Charles in Parliament House, revealed the word swap during an interview with the ABC as she defied calls for her resignation.
“If you listen close enough, it was ‘her hairs’, not ‘her heirs’ that I was giving my allegiance to and now that they are no longer here, I don’t know where that stands,” she said. “I’m not giving up my job, I’m not resigning.”
But on Thursday, following reports the Coalition was seeking legal advice over Ms Thorpe’s purported misspeaking, the independent senator told 3AW that she didn’t “subscribe to the violence of what England have done to us and that includes the language.”
“I left school at 14 mate, you know, I grew up in public housing and went to public schools and uh, when I got to the Senate, I simply said hairs instead of heirs, because I read from the card,” she said.
“Uh, what I saw and if you know, people want to interpret that to interpret that the way they want to that, that’s up to them.”
On Monday Ms Thorpe interrupted King Charles as he finished a speech at Parliament House in Canberra by yelling “this is not your country” and accusing the monarch of genocide.
“Give us our land back. Give us what you stole from us – our bones, our skulls, our babies, our people,” yelled Ms Thorpe, who is a Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung woman.
“You destroyed our land. Give us a treaty. We want a treaty in this country. You are a genocidalist.”
After Ms Thorpe was escorted by parliamentary security from the hall, she yelled “f**k the colony”.
On Wednesday, Ms Thorpe claimed she pledged her allegiance to the Queen’s “hairs” instead of “heirs” when she was first sworn in as a Senator.
Thorpe also refused to resign from her position in federal parliament when she was asked by the ABC on Wednesday if she then would renounce her sworn affirmation to “bear true allegiance” to the monarchy.
She was originally sworn in as a Greens senator in 2020.
“I swore allegiance to the Queen’s hairs, if you listen close enough,” she said.
“It was her hairs, not her heirs, that I was giving my allegiance to, and now that they are no longer here, I don’t know where that stands.”
“I’m not giving up my job - I’m not resigning.”
She went on to add: “I am not an expert on the colonial laws...This country wants to swear allegiance to a king from another country whose ancestors have been responsible for massacres, so many massacres in our country...‘Why would I, with my hand on my heart, kneel to an oppressor? A murdering thief’.”
Ms Thorpe earlier told Nine’s Today that “no one can kick me out”.
“I’m an independent. No one can kick me out of there,” she said.
“I’m there to fulfil my job. I represent the Blak Sovereign Movement, which is about questioning the sovereignty of the Crown, and I’m calling for a treaty. This Government has walked back a treaty. I know the Opposition is not interested in a treaty.”
THORPE’S CLASH BACKFIRES
Thorpe’s clash with King Charles has gone down like a lead balloon, with a survey finding even supporters of the failed Voice to Parliament disapprove of the firebrand senator’s latest stunt.
Exclusive polling has found 91 per cent of respondents disapprove of Ms Thorpe interrupting the monarch’s speech to accuse him of genocide on Monday.
And about eight out of 10 of those who objected to Ms Thorpe’s heckling King Charles voted yes in the Voice to Parliament referendum in 2023.
About 83 per cent of ALP voters, 98 per cent of Coalition voters and 80 per cent of voters planning to cast a ballot for either the Greens or an independent at the next election rebuked the confrontation.
News Corp head of research James Taylor said respondents in the poll of about 988 readers overwhelmingly disapproved of Ms Thorpe’s confrontation with King Charles.
“Overwhelmingly people of all shapes and stripes strongly disapprove of her [Ms Thorpe] actions,” he said.
“That’s across gender. That’s across voting for the Voice. Even 80 per cent of Greens voters disapprove.
“It’s widespread condemnation. With a lot of the reactions people said she was happy to accept salary but was being hypocritical, juvenile, idiotic, self serving, embarrassing … those were the common things.”
On Monday Ms Thorpe interrupted King Charles as he finished a speech at Parliament House in Canberra by yelling “this is not your country” and accusing the monarch of genocide.
“Give us our land back. Give us what you stole from us – our bones, our skulls, our babies, our people,” yelled Ms Thorpe, who is a Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung woman.
“You destroyed our land. Give us a treaty. We want a treaty in this country. You are a genocidalist.”
After Ms Thorpe was escorted by parliamentary security from the hall, she yelled “f**k the colony”.
Readers also found Senator Thorpe’s conduct embarrassing, disgraceful and disrespectful, according to responses to open survey questions on NewsCorp’s Pulse of Australia platform.
“Inappropriate – she is willing to accept a salary from the very system she opposes,” said one response.
Another said “She [Ms Thorpe] is silly. Charles is our King, but he has no power over our politics.”
A third said “I think her concerns are valid, but it was the wrong time and place to raise them – it was like being rude to a guest in your home.”
Ms Thorpe became the first Indigenous woman as a Victorian MP for the Greens in 2017 but lost her seat in 2018 before being becoming a federal senator for the minor party in 2020.
She quit the Greens after the minor party backed the Voice to Parliament, something Senator Thorpe and her supporters opposed in favour of a treaty process with Aboriginal communities. Thorpe was approached for comment.
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Originally published as ‘Misspoke’: Lidia Thorpe’s bizarre new claim on Oath of Allegiance
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