Call for racism inquiry in parliament

Senators Lidia Thorpe and Mehreen Faruqi have declared parliament is guilty of ‘whitewashing’ and ‘white ­supremacy’, but have not explicitly mentioned anti-Semitism for an inquiry into racism.

Independent senator Lidia Thorpe and Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi at a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: David Beach/NewsWire

Independent Lidia Thorpe and Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi have declared parliament is guilty of “whitewashing” and “white ­supremacy”, but have not explicitly mentioned anti-Semitism as an issue that needs to be addressed as part of an inquiry into racism in parliament.

The move by the two senators was sparked by the censure of Senator Thorpe last week as punishment for her protest of King Charles III, with Senator Faruqi forced to withdraw comments at the time that the motion was an example of white supremacy in an effort to maintain “harmony” in the chamber.

“The minute you call out ­racism or racist behaviour or we try to speak our truth about what we suffer in this workplace, we are shut down,” Senator Faruqi said.

“Using weasel words like ‘harmony’, it’s disgraceful. I’m sorry but there’s no other way to describe it. It’s harmony for the white people and racism for the people of colour.”

The call by the two senators for a public parliamentary inquiry was amended in the upper house by the two major parties, with the inquiry to now be closed and include no public input.

Senator Lidia Thorpe stages a protest as Britain's King Charles and Queen Camilla attend a parliamentary reception in Canberra in October. Picture: Pool/Reuters

While declaring the Greens had made it clear “from day one” that there was no room for any form of racism in Australia, Senator Faruqi did not mention the need to address anti-Semitism.

“We were the first party to have a stand-alone anti-racism portfolio and a stand-alone MP who has responsibility for anti-­racism and I make it clear again, in this country, no form of racism should be acceptable,” she said, in response to a question about the anti-Semitic vandalism in Sydney’s Woollahra.

“That’s why we are moving this motion to make sure that not just this parliament, but also every workplace and society is free of racism.”

Senator Thorpe said racism was “still frequently used as a political tool by the major parties”.

“They use it to create fear and distrust for their political benefit, and those attitudes flow through to the rest of society. The Prime Minister and Opposition Leader frequently partake in racist dog whistling,” she said.

The call for an inquiry into racism follows accusations from Jewish groups that Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong are not adequately condemning anti-Semitism.