Senate censures Lidia Thorpe after expletive-laden tirade at King Charles
The Senate has censured Lidia Thorpe over her expletive-laden tirade against King Charles during his visit to Canberra.
United Australia Party senator Ralph Babet has also been formally rebuked for “inflammatory use of hate speech” after posting racist, homophonic and ablest slurs online.
In a statement to the upper house, Leader of the Government in the Senate Penny Wong said she was moving the censure motions reluctantly because Senator Thorpe and Senator Babet behaved as they did because they wanted the attention.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“Engaging in actions, stunts designed to create storms on social media, but offering nothing of substance to improve anyone’s life,” Senator Wong said.
“These are actions that seek to incite outrage and grievance, actually to boost their own profiles.”
Senator Thorpe sparked outrage and immediate calls to resign after launching an extraordinary tirade at King Charles during a formal reception in Parliament House in October, in which she labelled the monarch a “genocidalist” and said “F... the colony”.
The Senate voted 46:12 to censure Senator Thorpe.
In a statement ahead of the censure vote, Senator Thorpe said she would not be silenced.
“In no way do I regret protesting the King. I would do it again,” she said.
“It is time this country reckons with its history, and puts a stop to the continuing Genocide on First Peoples.”
More to come
