Lidia Thorpe shrugs off Dutton’s call to resign, saying she’s looking for ‘justice’ not re-election

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/oct/22/lidia-thorpe-king-charles-peter-dutton-resignation-calls-rejected-ntwnfb

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Independent senator, who made international headlines for heckling King Charles about Indigenous injustices, says people should ‘get used to truth-telling’

Independent senator Lidia Thorpe has shrugged off calls from conservative opponents to resign from parliament after interrupting a reception for King Charles, defiantly responding, “I’m not looking to be re-elected – I’m looking to get justice for my people.”

Speaking on Radio National, Thorpe said: “I will be there for another three years, everybody. So, you know, get used to truth-telling.”

A push for the Senate to censure her over Monday’s interjection, where she yelled “fuck the colony” and “you are not my king” during an event at Parliament House, may be short-lived, after a senior Coalition politician hosed down the suggestion on Tuesday.

But Thorpe, the independent senator from Victoria, has apologised after she said a staff member posted a cartoon image of King Charles being beheaded on her Instagram Story.

The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, claimed Thorpe should resign from parliament following her latest high-profile protest on Monday. At a reception for Charles and Queen Camilla, Thorpe – a Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung Indigenous woman – turned her back on the national anthem, then later approached the stage yelling “this is not your country”.

“You committed genocide against our people. Give us our land back. Give us what you stole from us – our bones, our skulls, our babies, our people,” she shouted, before being escorted out of the hall by security.

Speaking to Channel Seven’s Sunrise program, Dutton claimed: “I think there’s a very strong argument for somebody who doesn’t believe in the system, but is willing to take a quarter of a million dollars a year from the system, to resign.

“If you were really truly about your cause and not just about yourself, then I think that’s a decision that you would make.

“My reaction was that, ‘here we go again’. It was entirely predictable, all about herself. It doesn’t advance any cause that she’s interested in. It’s really just a self-promotion thing, which is why I don’t think we should give it any attention.”

Thorpe, responding to Dutton’s comments in a Radio National interview, claimed that: “Every time I see him [Dutton] in parliament he walks in the opposite direction, so he never wants to sit down and have a conversation.”

She shot down suggestions she would resign, defending her approach.

“My approach, unfortunately, might upset a few people, but how else do you get your message across when we [are] continually shut down as Blak women? The only people they want to hear from are ones that conform and speak nicely, but do nothing about getting justice for our people.”

Thorpe also defended her decision to criticise the king and the British monarchy in the public forum.

“His family and his kingdom are absolutely responsible for what happened to my people in this country. They came to the shores with guns … Has he done anything about it? If you stay silent, then you are complicit,” she said.

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“Why doesn’t he apologise then for his ancestors? Why doesn’t he say, I am sorry for the many, many thousands of massacres that happened in this country, and that my ancestors and my kingdom are responsible for that?”

The Nine newspapers reported that some Liberal politicians were considering whether to seek a censure of Thorpe in parliament over her conduct.

But Simon Birmingham, the shadow foreign minister, appeared to downplay that prospect in a morning press conference.

“One of the problems is Lidia Thorpe would probably revel in being censured by the Senate,” Birmingham, the leader of the opposition in the Senate, said.

“And so, we’ve got to think carefully about how we respond to this in ways that try to prevent such behaviour in the future, but don’t give her the oxygen that she so desires for these types of antics.”

Clare O’Neil, the housing minister, was asked on Radio National whether the government would support a censure. She responded that it wanted to “see what the Liberals come forward with specifically”.

Thorpe overnight did apologise after a social media post – now deleted – appeared on her Instagram Story, with a cartoon image depicting the king being beheaded.

It was posted without her knowledge by a staff member, Thorpe said.

An apology on her Instagram Story reads: “Earlier tonight, without my knowledge, one of my staff shared an image to my Instagram stories created by another account. I deleted it as soon as I saw. I would not intentionally share anything that could be seen to encourage violence against anyone. That’s not what I’m about.”