Mehreen Faruqi condemned by Senate for Governor-General protest

A Greens Senator has been given a scathing rebuke for her protest actions during the opening of parliament in which she called for Australia to sanction Israel.

A Greens Senator has been condemned in parliament after she held up a sign during the Governor-General’s address.

Senator Mehreen Faruqi held a sign that said “Gaza is starving, Words won’t feed them, Sanction Israel” for the duration of the speech, and reportedly asked Anthony Albanese “Prime Minister, Gaza is starving, will you sanction Israel?” as he left the chamber.

Senator Mehreen Faruqi was censured by the Senate. Picture: Martin Oldman

On Wednesday Senator Penny Wong moved a motion against Senator Faruqi, a formal process that, in this case, would express “profound disapproval”, call for senators to “respect our democratic institutions” and bar her from attending any overseas delegations throughout this new parliament.

“Senator Faruqi wanted it to be about her, presumably, in her campaign for the leadership of the Greens,” Senator Wong said.

“Senator Faruqi demands respect, but she does not offer it. She denigrates anyone who doesn’t agree with her on everything.

“I don’t think this is the leadership Australians expect, I don’t believe this is what Australian democracy is about.”

Senator Faruqi said that “Labor and the Coalition want to avoid the truth”. Picture: NewsWire / Monique Harmer

The Opposition attempted to move an amendment to the censure motion, which would have gone further, with Liberal Senator Michaelia Cash saying the government’s motion did not “go far enough”.

“We believe that the ultimate punishment fails to meet the gravity,” Senator Cash said.

“It falls short of what Australians rightly expect of their elected representatives”

As Senator Cash spoke a protester interjected, reportedly shouting that “Israel is murdering children”, before they were removed.

The original motion passed with 50 votes for and 11 votes against, however the Liberal amendment failed.

Senator Faruqi responded to the motion, and said that “Labor and the Coalition want to avoid the truth” and “crack down on people who protest”.

She repeated the message on her sign, and echoed her Greens Leader Larissa Waters saying “the Greens will not be silent”.

The Prime Minister was asked about the protest on the ABC on Wednesday afternoon and said parliamentarians “have a responsibility to act like an adult”.

“There is a place for demonstrations, and it is not on the floor of the Senate or the House of Reps for that matter,” Mr Albanese said.

Queen Elizabeth II scrubbed

Parliament has returned with big changes to the way the government conducts its business, including a new change to how it references the royals.

The way that the parliament goes about its work in the House of Representatives is governed by “standing orders”. Now, those orders have been amended to remove all references to Queen Elizabeth II – even though it’s been almost three years since the Queen’s death.

As the British monarch is Australia’s head of state, they are mentioned alongside their representative, the Governor-General, in the standing orders.

All references to Queen Elizabeth II will be removed from standing orders. Picture: Chris Jackson / Buckingham Palace / AFP

Labor minister and leader of the House Tony Burke moved an amendment to the standing orders on Wednesday morning that would replace mentions of Queen Elizabeth II with King Charles III.

The Queen was referenced at least 15 times in the standing orders, but all of those mentions will now be taken over by her successor.

Tony Burke introduced the changes to parliament. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Queen Elizabeth II died on September 8, 2022, aged 96.

Liberal Party manager of opposition business Alex Hawke accepted the change but said he was “reluctant” to do so.

“I will say upfront as a lifelong constitutional monarchist and a great supporter of our constitutional monarchy and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, we are still in my view in the official mourning period,” Mr Hawke said.

“We do accept, reluctantly, the changes to remove all references to the Queen from the standing orders and replace them with the sovereign.”

Alex Hawke said it was a ‘reluctant but necessary change’. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

He called it a “reluctant but necessary change”.

Other changes to standing orders include how long parliamentarians can be ejected from the house and how votes are recorded.

Originally published as Mehreen Faruqi condemned by Senate for Governor-General protest