Lidia Thorpe grandstands from press gallery after Senate suspension

Suspended senator Lidia Thorpe has entered the press gallery viewing area of the Senate yelling pro-Palestinian slogans, putting officials on edge and prompting a large security response at Parliament House a day after she was barred from the chamber for throwing papers at One Nation leader Pauline Hanson.

Thorpe’s Senate gallery stunt on Thursday was a second breach of parliamentary rules as nobody is allowed to disrupt proceedings and she was already barred from the chamber.

Her statements earlier in the day that Hanson was a “convicted racist” also prompted legal letters from the One Nation leader.

Independent senator Lidia Thorpe protests inside the Marble Foyer at Parliament House on Thursday.Credit: AAP

Parliament’s final scheduled sitting day of the year had begun when at 9.45am, Thorpe entered the gallery that is typically restricted to media use and calmly asked “What’s going on?” to attract attention.

As surprised journalists scrambled for their phones and wrote down what Thorpe had said, the senator silently raised her fist, paused for a few moments, and yelled loud enough for the whole chamber to hear, “Free, free Palestine. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” Thorpe then left the chamber.

Earlier, she could be heard yelling outside the Senate as it debated whether her private member’s bill would be tabled. In response, Senate President Sue Lines ordered staff to “shut the doors please”. After Thorpe’s stunt in the Senate chamber, she was photographed in the Marble Foyer as she left Parliament House to join a protest outside, which was held in support of her private member’s bill against genocide.

Thorpe speaking at a protest outside Parliament House in Canberra on Thursday.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Thorpe spoke to about 100 people gathered on Federation Mall, describing those flanking her as “her party” and saying that she would continue to rail against the “white men in suits” in parliament.

“I’ve got the day off today. I’ve been suspended, I’ve been censured and I wear those disciplinary colonial actions like a badge of honour,” she said.

“It’s horrible to work in that place every day and be surrounded by mainly white men in suits, who look down on people like me.”

Thorpe ended her speech with a remark about King Charles, whom she confronted during his visit to Parliament House last month.

“We want our land back. We want our babies back, and we want the king to just f--- off,” she said.

While Thorpe spoke outside, Parliament House buzzed with activity after her outburst. There were about 20 security guards and four police in the Marble Foyer. Normally, there are only a handful of guards. The number of police deployed just outside the entrance had swollen from the usual two to at least 10.

Parliament House security guards were posted outside the four entrances to the Senate chamber. One or two guards are usually posted outside the main entrance to the chamber while the Senate is sitting, but three guards were outside the entrance opposite the Senate president’s office, and there were two each in the two ante-rooms on either side of the chamber.

The posting of the guards, a highly unusual step, underscored just how nervous officials were about Thorpe attempting to enter the upper house chamber, and sources said the security response was specifically to keep her out. Officials prepared for such an eventuality on Wednesday evening after Thorpe was suspended from the chamber, but she wrong-footed them with her venture into the gallery.

Thorpe will not face any further sanction for the stunt, and left Parliament House without incident on Thursday afternoon.

The former Greens senator was suspended after being involved in a heated row on Wednesday with Hanson, who was trying to table documents questioning independent senator Fatima Payman’s eligibility to sit in parliament because she was born in Afghanistan.

In the Senate, Thorpe backed Payman and called Hanson a “racist” as she threw papers at her before raising a middle finger as she exited the chamber. The major parties combined to suspend Thorpe from the Senate for Thursday as punishment.

On Thursday, Hanson confirmed to this masthead she had sent legal notices to the ABC, Nine News and Thorpe alleging the independent senator called her a “convicted racist” during TV interviews in the morning. Hanson was also considering referring Thorpe’s comments to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission. Thorpe dismissed the threat.

Thorpe was barred from the chamber after throwing papers towards One Nation leader Pauline Hanson on Wednesday. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“Senator Hanson was taken to court by senator [Mehreen] Faruqi and was found to be racist towards Senator Faruqi,” Thorpe said after her protest speech. “I was referring [to that] … and I don’t understand why that’s defaming anybody.”

Earlier this month, Hanson was found to have racially discriminated against Faruqi in a tweet telling her to “piss off back to Pakistan” in 2022. Hanson is appealing the ruling.

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said earlier on Thursday that she felt Thorpe’s suspension from the Senate was justified.

“Nobody enjoyed what happened yesterday,” she said on Radio National Breakfast. “Senator Hanson, whether you agree with her or not, should not be aggressively approached in the chamber with paper thrown in her face.”

Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie claimed Thorpe had no respect for democratic institutions or her fellow senators.

“Calling people racist actually is just a way, I think, that this senator is trying to excuse her own very, very bad behaviour,” McKenzie said.

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