Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe calls the Queen a ‘coloniser’, Pauline Hanson accuses her of ‘hypocrisy’
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has hit out at an outspoken Greens senator over her dig at the Queen earlier today.
Pauline Hanson has attacked Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe’s description of the Queen as a “coloniser”, suggesting if she doesn’t like parliament she should stop taking her $211,250 salary.
The One Nation leader has told news.com.au that Ms Thorpe was engaging in “hypocrisy” after she was forced to repeat the oath of allegience, having inserted criticism of the royal family the first time.
“Lidia Thorpe obviously does not take her elected position seriously,” said Ms Hanson.
“She’s filling a position she does not respect, to represent people she obviously despises, in an institution she does not recognise as being legitimate.
“What we saw this morning was a stunning exercise in hypocrisy, made worse by her happily taking $211,000 a year from taxpayers for work she clearly does not intend to do.”
Ms Thorpe, an outspoken Victorian Greens Senator, has previously stated that the Australian parliament has no permission to be here and that her role as an Indigenous woman was to “infiltrate” the Senate.
Asked to recite the oath of allegiance this morning, she marched towards the despatch box with her fist in the air and then stated: “I sovereign, Lidia Thorpe, do solemnly and sincerely swear that I will be faithful and I bear true allegiance to the colonising Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.”
MPs then interjected, warning that “you’re not a senator” if she failed to correctly recite the oath.
“Senator Thorpe, Senator Thorpe, you are required to recite the oath as printed on the card,’’ Senate President Sue Lines said.
Senator Thorpe then took the oath again, mispronouncing heirs as the Queen’s “hairs” and successors.
She later took to Twitter to declare: “Sovereignty never ceded.”
.@Greens senator and Indigenous activist @SenatorThorpe has caused a stir in the federal Senate this morning by mockingly reciting the oath of allegiance. https://t.co/Rql2Eda0bd#auspol#7NEWSpic.twitter.com/VNtdaYz8lV
— 7NEWS Australia (@7NewsAustralia) August 1, 2022
It’s not the first time the Greens Senator has raised concerns about colonisation.
Speaking to ABC radio in June, she argued the Australian flag represents “dispossession, massacre and genocide” and accused the media of pitting her against Liberal Senator Jacinta Price.
“The colonial project came here and murdered our people. I’m sorry we’re not happy about that,” she said.
“If people are going to get a little bit upset along the way, well that’s just part of the truth telling. The truth hurts.”
In December, Senator Thorpe unreservedly apologised to Liberal Hollie Hughes after she was accused of saying “at least I keep my legs shut” during Senate debate.
Liberal Senator Ben Small told the Senate that Senator Thorpe “just made the most outrageous statement directed at senator Hughes”, something that “ranks at the top” of “disgusting statements made in this chamber”.
Senator Thorpe later told the Senate: “I just want to unreservedly take back the comments that I made earlier when interjecting, and I apologise to that Senator, Senator Hughes, wholeheartedly. That won’t happen again. So I apologise to the Senator and also the Senate.”
Earlier, jet-setting Scott Morrison made an appearance in Canberra to be sworn in as an MP after he skipped Parliament last week to attend an international conference in Japan.
The former Prime Minister was joined by Barnaby Joyce, who was forced to rush home last week after his 98 year old father James Joyce died at the family home.
Now that Mr Morrison has been sworn in as an MP he has 28 days to reveal to Parliament if he was being paid when he attended the international event.
The man who hosted the Tokyo address is Haruhisa Handa, a Japanese sect leader, businessman, self-help author and philanthropist in Australia who sponsors the opera.
He also leads the Shinto-based religion World Mate, formerly known as Powerful Cosmo Mate.
The organisation previously settled sexual harassment allegations and had a tax evasion claim dismissed in the 1990s.
There’s speculation in the Liberal Party that Mr Morrison was paid up to $50,000 or more to attend the event, plus air tickets.
But the former prime minister has yet to reveal if he was paid - and how much - and may be able to simply stipulate he was paid a speakers’ fee without revealing to Parliament how much he was paid.
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Mr Morrison had barely packed away his passport and suitcase from his trip to the Asian Leadership Conference in Seoul a fortnight ago before jetting off again.
In a statement, Mr Morrison insisted he didn’t know parliament was on in July when he booked his trip.
“I will return to Australia to be present in the parliament on August 1,’’ he said.
However, it soon emerged that he was skipping the entire first sitting week of parliament to attend a conference that did not begin until Thursday night.
He was travelling in Japan with his wife, Jenny Morrison, and insisted it was “privately funded” without revealing by whom.
Labor frontbencher Tony Burke warned if Mr Morrison was getting paid to attend the conference while skipping parliament, he needed to declare it.
“If someone’s being paid to do another job, then I’m not sure how they get away with the taxpayers paying them to do this one,’’ he said.
So far, the former prime minister has not denied he was accepting paid work while parliament was sitting – only that it will be declared in due course.
“Mr Morrison will be complying with the disclosure requirements for members of the Australian parliament as and when they are required to be made,’’ a spokeswoman said.
The former prime minister said on Facebook that the opportunity to join other former PMs from Canada, UK, Ireland and NZ in Japan was too good to pass up.
“An important opportunity to meet up again with current and former PMs Kishida and Suga as well key Japanese business and industry partners who are heavily investing in Australia, especially in our hydrogen and resources sector, including Inpex, Kawasaki, Nippon Steel, Mitsubishi, ENEOS, J-Power, Itochu and Sumitomo,’’ he said.
“The Japan-Australia relationship has never been stronger and it is important to continue to take every opportunity to strengthen our engagement.
“Key to our discussions this week was the centrality of achieving energy security within the Indo-Pacific to achieve broader economic and regional security.”
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