Senator Lidia Thorpe has fired back against the ‘mock outrage’ following her threat to burn down Parliament House during a pro-Palestine rally.
The independent senator made the comments before a crowd of demonstrators in Melbourne on Sunday, days after Israel and Hamas reached a tentative ceasefire.
In a stunning show of indignation, Thorpe has defended her remarks as a ‘figure of speech’ accusing her critics of ‘mock outrage’.
‘My rally remarks were clearly a figure of speech – a metaphor for the pain in our communities and the urgent need to end genocide in Palestine and everywhere,’ she told the Daily Mail on Monday.
‘They were obviously not a literal threat. This mock outrage is ridiculous.’
Thorpe said the backlash was an attempt to distract from the conflict in the Middle East.
‘While people are dying and starving in Gaza, politicians and media are once again clutching their pearls and chasing a scandal instead of focusing on what really matters,’ she said.
‘This is just another political game designed to distract from the real issues.
Senator Lidia Thorpe has drawn widespread condemnation after threatening to ‘burn down Parliament House’ before a crowd of onlookers at a pro-Palestine rally in Melbourne
‘I have always rejected violence. Any suggestion otherwise misrepresents my long standing commitment to pursuing justice and self-determination for First Peoples and all oppressed peoples through peaceful, democratic means.’
During her address on Sunday, she compared the plight of Palestinians to that of Indigenous Australians, saying both groups shared a history of resistance.
‘So we stand with you every day, and we will fight every day, and we will turn up every day and if I have to burn down Parliament House to make a point… I am not there to make friends,’ she told the protesters.
The remark drew a roar of support from the crowd but sparked immediate backlash from federal politicians and members of the Australia’s Jewish community.
The Opposition has called for the senator to face consequences while Labor ministers have stopped short, stressing the need not to reward Thorpe with further attention.
Social Services Minister Taya Plibersek clashed with Sunrise host Nat Barr on Monday morning after claiming the ‘absolutely irresponsible’ comments didn’t warrant ‘extra air’.
But Sunrise host Nat Barr hit back: ‘I totally understand that. This is completely inflammatory. But when you have a senator saying she will burn down Parliament House, is there a step further than just (condemnation)? Can you censure her?’
Plibersek said the issue would be dealt with at a later date.
Tens of thousands attended pro-Palestine marches across Australia on Sunday. Demonstrators are pictured at Hyde Park in Sydney, where NSW Police said some 8,000 people attended
‘That’s a matter to be decided down the track, but truly the last thing I want to be doing is promoting her or giving her the attention she so desperately craves,’ Plibersek said.
‘We need to focus on what we can do here in Australia. That is support a two-state solution and support whatever we can do to bring and assure peace in the Middle East.’
Meanwhile, Senate opposition leader Michaelia Cash said the Opposition would ‘consider options available within the Senate’ to hold her accountable.
Victorian Liberal Senator Jane Hume agreed, claiming the independent senator had reached ‘new lows’ and that the threat should be taken seriously.
‘Let’s face it, (Thorpe) is far more of an activist than she is a legislator or a parliamentarian,’ Hume told Sky News.
‘But there is some cause for concern. In any other workplace, had a threat been made towards the workplace, well, they’d be out on their ear. They’d be fired.
‘They’d be locked out of the building. That can’t happen to Lidia Thorpe because she’s an elected representative.
‘And every time she makes one of these outrageous comments, Labor cower in the corner. They say, oh, that’s just silly old Lidia.
Social Services Minister Taya Plibersek told Sunrise host Nat Barr Senator Thorpe’s comments were ‘absolutely irresponsible’ on Monday morning
‘They treat her like some crazy relative at a Christmas party, rather than taking the threats seriously, rather than taking her disrespect for the institution of the Senate and indeed the parliament seriously.’
Nationals leader David Littleproud made a similar call for parliament to look into the comments, claiming it fell below the standards required of elected representatives.
‘We’ve been given a privileged position to go to Canberra and represent the Australian people and to make our country better’, he told Sky News.
‘And to bring a cause that’s not even relevant here to domestic politics, one in which she is side by side with the Greens movement… they are extremists and Lidia Thorpe is an offshoot of that.’
More to come.
