Rebel Victorian Senators Lidia Thorpe and Ralph Babet censured in Senate

Lidia Thorpe says she has no regrets about a foul-mouthed protest against King Charles III after being censured in the federal parliament alongside fellow Victorian senator Ralph Babet.

Rebel Victorian Senators Lidia Thorpe and Ralph Babet have been censured in the parliament for stunts aimed at creating social media storms.

Senator Thorpe on Monday morning blasted Labor and the Coalition for passing the motion condemning her protest of King Charles III last month.

Senator Babet faced rebuke for his racist and homophobic posts on X, formerly Twitter, last week.

Leader of the Government in the Senate Penny Wong accused both senators of engaging in stunts to get attention, not to improve people’s lives.

“These are actions which seek to incite outrage and grievance, actually to boost their own profiles and this is part of a trend that we do see internationally but frankly, we do not need here in Australia,” Senator Wong said.

“We should deny them the attention they seek but in doing so, we should signal the upholding of standards.

“Standards of respect, when we have dignitaries visit our parliament and in Senator Thorpe’s case, no less than the head of state, and standards of respect when it comes to talking about our fellow Australians – and in Senator Babet’s case, deliberate abuse of some of our fellow Australians.”

Lidia Thorpe heckles King Charles III during his visit to the Australian Parliament House. Picture: Victoria Jones

Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Simon Birmingham, said the motion against Senator Thorpe was not about her views or her right to voice them.

“It is about the conduct that was undertaken, the disruptive, disorderly and disrespectful approach that reflected so poorly upon all senators in this chamber and brought us into disrepute,” Senator Birmingham said.

Senator Thorpe was not present for the vote due to flight delays but arrived in the chamber after motion was passed 46-12 yelling “shame on you”.

Senator Thorpe claimed the motion showed the major parties stood against justice for First Nations people, “preferring instead to defend a foreign king, rather than listen to the truth”.

“In no way do I regret protesting the King — I would do it again,” she said.

“I will not be silent. The truth is, this colony is built on stolen land, stolen wealth and stolen lives.

“It is time this country reckons with its history, and puts a stop to the continuing Genocide on First Peoples.”

Ralph Babet was censured for a racist and homophobic post on X. Picture: Martin Ollman

The Greens backed Senator Thorpe, with Senator Mehreen Faruqi accusing the major parties of wanting “First Nations people who tell their truth to shut up because you don’t like the way they tell the truth”.

The motion regarding the United Australia Party’s Senator Babet, who was also not present due to flight delays, comes after he posted offensive slurs last week.

Senator Birmingham said the posts were “repugnant, abhorrent and have no place in the civil discourse in 2024”.

“People are free to rail against political correctness or so-called ‘wokism’ but the way to do it is not to offend your fellow Australians, to demean your fellow Australians, to engage in conduct that long ago was seen to be socially unacceptable and certainly should not be tolerated in supposed leaders of our country, elected senators of this parliament,” he said.

The motion also passed the chamber.

The Senate also agreed that in light of the conduct it was not appropriate for Senator Thorpe to represent the Senate as a member of any delegation during the life of this parliament.

Senator Thorpe said she assumed the move was related to a parliamentary visit to Tuvalu and Fiji that she was meant to go on because “the colony” wouldn’t want her “mixing up with other Indigenous people around the world and revving them up”.

Originally published as Rebel Victorian Senators Lidia Thorpe and Ralph Babet censured in Senate