Coalition to push on with Thorpe legal challenge plan despite experts’ warnings

The Coalition insists on seeking legal advice on Lidia Thorpe’s parliamentary status, despite an expert’s assessment that the senator’s ‘hairs’ oath is not grounds for disqualification.

Senator Lidia Thorpe heckles King Charles III during the parliamentary reception at the Parliament House on Monday. Picture: Getty Images

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The Coalition insists on seeking legal advice on Senator Lidia Thorpe’s parliamentary status, despite claims from a top constitutional lawyer that the ‘hairs’ oath to the Queen is not grounds for disqualification.

The opposition’s foreign affairs spokesperson Simon Birmingham said University of Sydney professor of constitutional law Anne Twomey’s analysis was “important”, but suggested parliament officers should already be looking into the matter.

“Professor Anne Twomey’s advice and analysis is important to this. She’s one of Australia’s leading constitutional scholars,” Senator Birmingham said.

“She’s also said that she believes there is something for the president of the Senate to look at here as to whether in fact the requirements have been fulfilled appropriately.”

Senator Thorpe, who launched a tirade at King Charles III on Monday, claimed she “misspoke” when she pledged allegiance to Queen Elizabeth’s “hairs” during her swearing-in.

Senator Birmingham also compared Thorpe’s oath comments to Sinn Féin members in the UK who refused to take an oath of affirmation of loyalty to the British Monarch.

“As a consequence of that, for many years those elected Members of the House of Commons in the UK have on principle never actually taken up those seats in the House of Commons.

“Lidia Thorpe is not showing that type of principle. She wants to try to have it both ways.

“She’s in the Senate because people voted Greens and that should actually be a warning to Australian voters that if you vote Greens you get this type of extreme senator.

“But there is also the fact that other Green senators over the years have disrupted other proceedings with visiting guests and officials.

“This is creating a problem for diplomatically how governments of the day in Australia, be it a Labor government or a coalition government, can have confidence to give the invitation to visiting guests to have the honour of addressing our parliament without them facing a risk that it somehow becomes an embarrassment.”

In a baffling defence of her “hairs” error, Senator Thorpe appeared on Sky News to explain her gaffe as nothing more than a slip of the tongue, despite reading directly from an official card during the formal event.

“I spoke what I read on the card. Now, forgive me for not being, you know, my English grammar isn’t as good as others, and I spoke what I read. So I misspoke,” she said.

“Well, it starts with a H. So, you know, I was reading from the card. I signed the card. I was accepted into the parliament to fulfil my role as a senator.”

The senator has been accused of violating her pledge to the monarchy after she shouted “You are not our king” at King Charles.

She defended her reputation for stunts and ‘playing up’ as part of getting her message out and ‘bringing the country together’.

“To have this country question, or particularly, you know, people like (Peter) Dutton and other senators from his party, for them to question my legitimacy in this job is an insult and they can’t get rid of me.

“We’ve got another three-and-a-half years. I’m sorry for those that don’t like me, but I am here to do a job and that is to get justice for my people, but also to bring this nation together, and that’s what is missing out of this message.”

She doubled down on her importance in government saying she was there to do a job in getting “justice” for her people and bringing the “nation together”.