The senate has formally censured Senator Ralph Babet and Senator Lidia Thorpe over recent behaviour.
The government moved that Senator Babet, who represents Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party, had used hate speech, designed to drive division for his own political benefit. While independent senator Lidia Thorpe was censured over her protest at an event attended by King Charles III on his recent visit to Australia.
Senator Babet recently came under fire for posting a string of social media statements that used homophobic, racist and ableist slurs.
In recent days he’s also promoted the idea that some parts of LGBTIQA+ communities also embrace pedophilia.
The senate reaffirmed that all Australians no matter what their race, religion, gender, sex or sexuality are valued, welcomed members of society.
The motion also said that parliament needed to be a safe place for all who worked in and visited the building, and there was no tolerance for hate speech in the course of parliamentarian’s political debate.
Finally they stated that all members of the senate should engage in debates respectfully and refrain from inflammatory and divisive comments.
Bringing forward the motions Senator Penny Wong said the comments from Senator Babet were hateful.
“We have to make a decision about expressing a view about what behaviours are appropriate in the expressions of those views, and in relation to senator Babet, whether in 2024 the sorts of views he’s articulated – which are frankly hateful, about our fellow Australians – are something we should be condoning as a Senate. I for one, do not.” Senator Wong said.
Senator Simon Birmingham, the leader of the Liberal Party in the senate. said there was a distinct difference between the two incidents.
While he was concerned about how and where Senator Thorpe has made her statements, interrupting an official event with the King, the statements from Senator Babet were repugnant and abhorrent in any space.
“The remarks and repugnant, abhorrent. and have no place in the civil discourse of 2024. People are free to rail against political correctness or so-called wokeism – but they way to do that, is not to offend your fellow Australians, to demean your fellow Australians, to engage in conduct that long ago was seen to be completely socially unacceptable, and certainly should not be tolerated.” Senator Birmingham said.
Senator Birmingham said the comments showed that he desperate for attention, and he called on media organisations across Australia to take care on how they amplified such voices.
Nationals Senator Matt Canavan told the chamber that he would not be able to vote for either motion because neither senator was in the chamber. It is understood that both were late arriving to parliament after being effected by flight delays.
Senator Canavan said he would have supported both motions, but had concerns about the process that had been used to bring the censure motion forward arguing that it should have been held off to a later time.
Senator Thorpe entered the chamber while Senator Birmingham was speaking, shouting out and interupting his comments, but she was not given an opportunity to speak.
Speaking to the media later in the day Senator Thorpe said she had no regrets about her protest against King Charles.
“If the colonising king were to come to my country again, our country, then I’ll do it again. And I will keep doing it. I will resist colonisation in this country. I swear my allegiance to the real sovereigns of these lands, First Peoples are the real sovereigns.
You don’t have some random king rock up and say he’s sovereign. Would you like that happening to your home? Would you like someone to knock on your door and say, ‘Time for you to leave, I’m taking over and these are the new rules of your house’? Well, not on my watch.” Senator Thorpe said.
Both motions were passed, with the censure motion against Senator Babet being passed ‘on the voices’.
Later in the day Senator Babet responded to the censure telling The Guardian that is was a case of selective outrage.
“The radical authoritarian left has taken offence for a tweet which did not mention, target or reference any individual. Maybe they should have considered censuring my colleagues who regularly and consistently direct abuse and vitriol towards other people and our great nation.
“The selective outrage and hypocrisy from the far left is far more offensive to the general public than my simple tweet.” Senator Babet said.
“If an elected member of the Australian Senate is not free to say what he or she thinks, then none of us are free to say what we think. The truth is, their target isn’t me; it’s you. I’m just in their way. Long live free speech.”
This morning Senator Babet posted an image from the television show Family Guy to his X account which showed lead character Peter Griffin sitting in an electric chair. Alongside the image her wrote “The year is 2030 and you made a comment on the internet that the authoritarians in the Labor/Liberal duopoly and the hard left legacy media found offensive.”
Greens Senator Meheeen Faruqi says the move to censure Senator Thorpe is contemptable
Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi said the move to censure former Greens member Lidia Thorpe was contemptable.
“Calling for Senator Thorpe to be censured for telling the truth about invasion, dispossession and genocide of Indigenous people in this country – that is just contemptable.” Senator Faruqi said.
“I thought was lived in a democracy. We have a right to protest. We have a right to decent. We have a right to disrupt, and that’s what Senator Thorpe did.”
Senator Farqui said the senate had double standards as they had not censured Senator Pauline Hanson for comments she had made on social media when the One Nation leader suggested Faruqi should return to her country of origin using crass language.
The federal court recently found Senator Hanson had racially vilified Senator Faruqi with her social media post. Senator Hanson has vowed to appeal the decision.
Penny Wong says its disappointing politicians are displaying poor behaviour.
“We seem to have come to a place where senators’ behaviour in this place and beyond is designed to cause outrage, designed to gain media attention, and so often does not reflect on this chamber and what Australians expect of us being sent here.” Senator Wong said.
The motion to censure Senator Thorpe was passed 46-12.
