‘Shut the doors’: Lidia Thorpe sneaks into parliament after being banned for outburst at Pauline Hanson
Lidia Thorpe has sensationally appeared in the Senate after being banned, with security called and the controversial politician thrusting her fist in the air.
Suspended independent Senator Lidia Thorpe has resurfaced at Parliament House, briefly appearing in the chamber to yell “Free, free Palestine” from the Senate press gallery before being photographed with her fist in the air outside the main entrance.
Senator Thorpe bizarrely snuck into the press gallery chamber this morning via a first floor door before entering the area that overlooks the Senate chamber.
“Free, free Palestine, from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,‘’ she reportedly shouted before exiting.
Giving a speech outside Parliament House shortly after, she told reporters Australia is a “very racist, divided country”, before adding: “We want our land back. We want our babies back, and we want the king to just f*** off”, according to TheGuardian.
It’s not clear yet what action if any the Senate will make and the suspended senator has now made her way down to a protest on the Parliament House lawns.
Earlier, her unauthorised entry into the Senate prompted Government leader Penny Wong to ask security to “shut the doors of the chamber please” as the Senator yelled outside the chamber.
“They do all they can to silence me and those who call out Genocide and injustice, and the do all they can to avoid accountability for their complicity,‘’ Senator Thorpe said in a statement.
“No politician should get to say who can and can’t be held accountable in our legal system, particularly in relation to the most atrocious crimes like genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
Senator Thorpe’s suspension came a week after she was censured by the Senate for protesting King Charles’ visit to Australia by yelling “you are not my King” and “f..k the colony”.
‘Naughty little black girl’
Senator Thorpe earlier today declared she’s tired of being treated like “the naughty little black girl” in the Senate and admitted she would “do it all again” when it comes to verbally attacking fellow Senator Pauline Hanson.
Speaking out on her suspension from Parliament, the Victorian MP, 51, said she has no regrets and “would do it all over again.”
“I will do what it takes to stamp out racism that I have experienced all my life,” she told ABC TV. “We need to stand up to racism.”
She insisted that Senator Hanson’s decision to question Senator Fatima Payman’s citizenship was not appropriate.
“No-one tells me the rules around here until I break them,” she said. “I think they make it up as they go along and that is part of the problem.
“We’re the ones that are the naughty little black girl again and that’s OK if you want to call me that and call me disruptive but I will not stand there, or sit there and be silent when people of colour are being attacked with racism.
“It is violent. It hurts and you’ll continue to get reactions. We have to lead by example, we have got to have this parliament at the Federal level say that racism is not allowed in this workplace.”
“They are quick to punish the black woman here all the time for calling it out but I am responding to racism and that is what they need to focus on,” she said.
“Pauline Hanson has walked in there with a burqa. That is not acceptable behaviour either and why won’t Wong and Birmingham call that out?
“It is very convenient for them to uphold this colonial violence that continues to be perpetrated against black and brown people in this country. If we can’t stamp it out here, then we can’t stamp it out for the rest of the nation.”
‘Shirt-front’: Hanson-Thorpe drama escalates
This all came after Senator Hanson has accused independent Senator Thorpe of “shirt-fronting” her in Canberra before telling her to “go back where you came from”.
In a new escalation of hostilities between the two women, Senator Hanson made the claims under parliamentary privilege on Wednesday night.
It follows the decision of the Senate to suspend Senator Thorpe after she was photographed delivering a one finger salute in parliament and throwing documents on the floor.
After her suspension was voted on, Ms Hanson accused Senator Thorpe of directing “barbs and jibes” at her in the Senate chamber.
“I actually had to move across here to distance because I knew the issue that was happening,” Senator Hanson said.
“I was told, ‘Go back where you came from’, ‘you wouldn’t know, you white colonists’, ‘you have privileges’, these are the conversations when I was directing a question to the minister on education.”
The Brisbane born right-wing MP is an Australian citizen.
“This has been constantly happening here. So don’t tell me that I’ve done anything (wrong). I completely ignored her and I was happy to move from my seat to stop any aggression or problems (happening) in the Senate.
“But each and every one of you know that since Senator Thorpe has been in this place, it has been the downfall of this chamber because of her aggression, and calling each and every one of us who is white that we are colonials (sic) that have stolen the land.
“That’s why I’m pleased to see that something (has been done) to rein in what is happening in this chamber,” Ms Hanson continued.
“There’s been aggression that’s been shown by Senator Thorpe to many senators in this place.
“What irritates me is that when you have the Greens who are the champion in the workplace for women. What am I, not a woman? Shouldn’t I be actually protected as well? Or it’s when it suits you? That’s not good enough.”
Senator Thorpe has now been suspended from the Senate for the final sitting day for “disorderly conduct”.
Senate President Sue Lines confirmed the penalty on Wednesday night after formally “naming” her in the chamber.
It followed chaotic scenes, including Senator Thorpe appearing to throw papers in the chamber.
Leader of the Government in the Senate Penny Wong then moved that Senator Thorpe be suspended on Thursday, the final sitting day of the year.
Senator Thorpe was even photographed appearing to “flip the bird” as she departed the chamber on Wednesday.
The Senate president said she wrote to Ms Thorpe at 4.30pm on Wednesday, offering her a chance to attend the Senate to explain herself or apologise.
However, Senator Lines indicated that Senator Thorpe chose not to attend the disciplinary meeting.
Earlier, Ms Hanson was described as a “disgrace to the human race” in the Senate.
In extraordinary scenes, the blow-up emerged after Senator Hanson sought to table documents she alleged went to the eligibility of Labor-turned-independent senator Fatima Payman to sit in the Senate.
Her accusation that Senator Payman was potentially in breach of Section 44 of the constitution – which includes being a dual citizenship – prompted the following exchange.
“Senator Hanson has worn the burqa in this place, maybe it’s time that she pack her burqa, and go to Afghanistan, and talk to the Taliban about this,” Senator Payman said.
She then accused Ms Hanson under parliamentary privilege of “racism”, before withdrawing the remarks.
“You’re not just vindictive, mean, nasty – you bring disgrace to the human race,” she said.
When Ms Hanson stood up to demand that the comments be withdrawn, Senator Thorpe then yelled across the chamber: “You’re a convicted racist!”
She was responding in part to Ms Hanson’s claim that Ms Payman’s documentation was “not good enough, it would not be good enough for anyone else here in this place”.
Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi recently claimed, successfully, to the victim of racial vilification by Ms Hanson in a civil – not criminal – case.
Ms Hanson is appealing that decision and her appeal is now lodged with the Federal Court.
On Wednesday, Senator Thorpe then theatrically tore up Ms Hanson’s motion in the chamber and threw it in her general direction. “It’s another day in the colony, what can I say?” Ms Thorpe said.
“This absolutely disgusting behaviour. These people belong in this country, they are welcomed by my people. “Why don’t you just bring back the White Australia policy and be done with it? I am sick of living in this racist country.”
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