[ad_1]
Senator Lydia Thorpe has been suspended from Parliament until the end of the year after a confrontation with Pauline Hanson in the Senate this morning.
Labour, the Coalition and some senators voted to suspend Thorpe for what was effectively just another sitting day after she appeared to throw papers during a heated debate in which Senator Fatima Payman accused Hanson of being racist.
Penny Wong, the government’s leader in the Senate, tabled the motion to remove Thorpe at about 6 p.m. It was passed by 46 votes to 11.
Wong said Thorpe was suspended for “inappropriate and sometimes offensive comments” made to other senators.
She said last week that the proposal would not dissuade her from future protests. She has yet to comment on her suspension tonight.
Today’s row began when Senator Fatima Peiman accused Pauline Henson of being racist before she was forced to retract the remark
Payman’s eligibility to sit in Parliament has been repeatedly challenged by the One Nation leader.
Hanson attempted to introduce her correspondence with the Senate President regarding Peiman’s dual citizenship and whether she was allowed to sit in Parliament.
Hanson said he would also table a motion to vote on whether the matter should be investigated by the standing committee on senators’ interests.
“I’m going to stand my ground on this,” Hanson said.
“I will do it again and again and again. I will do it today, be prepared for it.”
Payman called Hanson a racist but was forced to retract the comment.
She then cited several of Henson’s remarks, including one made during her first speech in which she said, “We are in danger of being swamped by Asians.”
“If that’s not racism, what is?” Payman said furiously as she slapped her arm.
“You’re not just vindictive, mean, nasty. You are a disgrace to the human race.
“I continued to give you the benefit of the doubt, Senator Henson, despite your repeated attempts to be racist towards anyone who doesn’t look like you.”
Henson demanded the comments be retracted as Thorpe shouted “You’re a convicted racist” at her.
Thorpe appeared to throw documents at Henson and later stormed out of the Senate with a raised middle finger to his colleagues.
Thorpe and the Greens sided with Payman to prevent the document from being tabled, but Labor and the opposition voted it down.
Why did the debate start?
Hanson raised concerns about Payman’s dual citizenship.
Peiman was born in Afghanistan and became an Australian citizen after moving here when she was eight in 2003.
She was elected to the Senate representing Labor in Western Australia in 2022, but dramatically quit in July.
She has since launched her own party, Australia’s Voice.
Hanson referred to Section 44 of the Constitution, which states that foreign nationals and dual nationals cannot sit in Parliament.
Peiman made efforts to renounce her citizenship in Afghanistan, but was unable to get her request granted by the Taliban-controlled government.
On the Senate floor today, Peiman said Henson should speak to the Taliban personally about the issue.
“Senator Hanson wore the burqa to this location. “Maybe it’s time for her to pack her burqa and go to Afghanistan and talk to the Taliban about it,” she said.
Payman was referring to Hanson’s stunt when she arrived in the Senate wearing a black burqa in 2017.
Motion to review racism in Parliament
The confrontation in the Senate today came just days after Thorpe and Greens deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi tabled a motion for an inquiry into racism in parliament.
They want the Standing Committee on Procedures to conduct an investigation and report back by March 31, 2025.
”It’s just not safe if you’re a woman of color,” Thorpe said Monday.
“It’s easy to spew racism and racist comments here, but when you dare to call out the racism and double standards used in this place, they shut up, shut you up, and shine a light on you,” Faruqi said, also on Monday
Faruqi earlier this month won a case against Hanson in the Federal Court over a post on X that told her to “go mad back in Pakistan”.
Their proposal will need the support of their colleagues when it comes to a vote.
[ad_2]
