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Senator Lidia Thorpe has responded to her suspension from the Senate yesterday calling out parliament for its misdirected focus.
The decision was made to suspend the senator from the chamber’s last sitting day after Thorpe tore up a motion by Senator Pauline Hanson and threw it in her direction.
In a follow up interview with the ABC, Senator Thorpe suggested that the events preceding Thorpe’s reaction were the real areas of concern.
“They are quick to punish the black woman here all the time for calling it out, but I am responding to racism, and that is what they need to focus on,” Senator Thorpe said.
The events transpired after Senator Fatima Payman was forced to withdraw accusations of racism against Pauline Hanson, prompting Senator Thorpe to respond in an act of solidarity, expressing the obscene nature of Hanson’s remarks.
Senator Payman called out Hanson’s “vile racism” after she had attempted to table a document that called for Payman to be excluded from parliament and repeatedly questioned the senator’s eligibility to sit in the Senate.
Hanson was attempting to allege that Senator Payman still held dual Afghan citizenship, which under Section 44 of the constitution would deem her ineligible for a place in parliament.
Payman has been found to have taken all possible legal measures to renounce her Afghan citizenship, which was yet to be finalised by the Taliban-controlled state. But despite this, Hanson continued with her accusations.
“Senator Hanson has worn the burqa in this place. Maybe it’s time she pack her burqa and go to Afghanistan and talk to the Taliban about this,” Senator Payman said in response.
“You’re not just vindictive, mean, nasty, you bring disgrace to the human race. No dignity whatsoever as a senator,” Senator Payman said.
“We’re supposed to have that freedom of expression, yes, but within boundaries and confines of respect.
“I kept on giving you the benefit of the doubt, Senator Hanson, despite your repetitive attempts to be racist to anyone who does not look like you,” she continued, before being forced to withdraw her remarks.
After Senator Thorpe tore up Senator Hanson’s motion and threw it in her direction, she walked out of the chamber.
“It’s been a horrible week, and when you’re subjected to racism … I stand up against it. I ripped up a piece of paper,” she explained.
“Senator Hanson is a ‘convicted’ racist’,” she said referring to the recent court ruling that found Hanson guilty of racially vilifying Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi in a tweet directing the senator to “piss off back to Pakistan.”
“She has worn a burqa in the chamber, she baits me regularly with racial taunts,” Thorpe continued.
The events that led to Senator Lidia Thorpe’s suspension, she noted, only acted to solidify the importance of Thorpe and Senator Faruqi’s joint push to establish an open inquiry into racism in parliament.
“We’re the ones that are the naughty little black girl. And that’s okay if you want to call me that and call me disruptive, but I will not sit there and be silent when people of colour are being attacked with racism,” she said in her final remark.
The greens voted against the Labor, crossbenchers and Coalition-backed vote for the suspension, saying the “racially charged overtones” provided important context to the events.
Lidia Thorpe Stands With Protestors Outside Parliament House
After telling the ABC that she would use her “day off” to join the protestors outside Parliament House, senator Thorpe made a brief appearance outside the Senate doors to protest the suspension.
The bill in question seeks to remove the Attorney-General’s power to block the prosecution of genocide and additional atrocities in Australian Courts.
Senator Thorpe’s genocide bill is due to be voted on in the Senate during a mammoth final sitting day where the government will attempt to push through more than 30 bills.
As Thorpe noted in her Instagram caption, yesterday’s suspension prevents her from being able to move forward with her speech on the legislation proposed in her private member’s bill.
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