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Senate passes censure motion against Lidia Thorpe
Josh Butler
The Senate has passed the censure motion against Lidia Thorpe. The motion received 46 yes and 12 no votes, passing easily.
The Senate is now moving on to the proposed censure against Ralph Babet, for a tweet he made last week. Opposition Senate leader Simon Birmingham called his words “repugnant, abhorrent, and have no place in proper, orderly, civil conduct and debate in 2024”.
Thorpe appears to have entered the chamber shortly after her motion was agreed on, interrupting loudly from the back of the Senate. It’s hard to make her words out from the video stream I’m watching, but we can hear words like “process”.
“Why wasn’t I allowed to be here?” Thorpe can be heard calling out.
Shame on you all … I’ll do it again!
Senate president Sue Lines is trying to call for order in the Senate.
Key events
Earlier, Greens leader Adam Bandt spoke to reporters about the final sitting fortnight – with a number of bills stalled in the senate amid negotiations.
He argued that Labor needs to “decide whether they want to bulldoze and block or whether they want to negotiate.”
The Greens have put on the table some good faith offers to pass legislation this fortnight. We have seen throughout this parliament so far, that when the government decides to be cooperative, then we can pass legislation with good and important amendments … But as we get closer to the election, Labor’s playing politics and refusing to negotiate, and is instead bulldozing bills through the Senate.
We hope that good sense prevails, that Labor listens to these good faith offers that the Greens have put forward on a range of legislation, and that we do this year what we’ve done in previous years, and have some good amendments and pass legislation through the Senate.
But at the moment, Labor is blocking and bulldozing and they need to stop it, and they need to come to the negotiating table. The Greens are prepared to negotiate in good faith.
Matt Canavan says censure process a ‘kangaroo court’
Nationals senator Matt Canavan said he would have supported this morning’s censure motions, however the government “brought them on without the senators here to hear the arguments against them or defend themselves”.
He described the process as a “Kangaroo Court” in a post to X, and added:
We have unfortunately cheapened what should be one of the more serious actions the Senate can take.
Senate passes censure motion against Lidia Thorpe
Josh Butler
The Senate has passed the censure motion against Lidia Thorpe. The motion received 46 yes and 12 no votes, passing easily.
The Senate is now moving on to the proposed censure against Ralph Babet, for a tweet he made last week. Opposition Senate leader Simon Birmingham called his words “repugnant, abhorrent, and have no place in proper, orderly, civil conduct and debate in 2024”.
Thorpe appears to have entered the chamber shortly after her motion was agreed on, interrupting loudly from the back of the Senate. It’s hard to make her words out from the video stream I’m watching, but we can hear words like “process”.
“Why wasn’t I allowed to be here?” Thorpe can be heard calling out.
Shame on you all … I’ll do it again!
Senate president Sue Lines is trying to call for order in the Senate.
Babet’s flight to Canberra cancelled
Speaking of Ralph Babet, the senator posted on X earlier this morning that his Qantas flight to Canberra had been cancelled today.
He previously said he would be voting no to the mis- and disinformation bill, and voting no to the banning of social media for under 16s.
Babet has not confirmed whether he has secured alternative transport.
Josh Butler
Senate voting on Thorpe’s censure motion
The Senate is dealing with Lidia Thorpe’s censure motion first, then Ralph Babet’s afterward.
Coalition Senate leader Simon Birmingham says the opposition will support the censure motion against Thorpe – meaning it’ll almost surely pass. Birmingham called her behaviour “disrespectful” and says politicians should use their platform with “respect and care”, and also notes that bizarre period where Thorpe later appeared to claim she had intentionally misspoken her oath of office – and then recanted that claim.
Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi calls the Thorpe censure motion a “disgrace”, claiming the former Greens member is being punished “for telling the truth about invasion, dispossession and the genocide of First Nations people in this country”.
Next up is Nationals senator Matt Canavan. He has raised issues about Thorpe and Babet both apparently not being in the Senate yet, claiming the censure motions were brought on with little notice. Canavan calls it a “kangaroo court”, critical that neither Babet or Thorpe will likely be able to speak on their own censure motion – Penny Wong responds that the opposition Senate leader, Birmingham, backed the timing already.
The Senate is voting on the censure motion now.
Wilkie pushes for gambling companies to return fraud-financed bets
Henry Belot
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie will today introduce a bill that could force gambling companies to return stolen funds used to finance bets.
Wilkie, who has moved similar legislation in the past without support from major parties, was developed in consultation with a former financial advisor who stole millions of dollars from his clients to service his gambling addiction. Gavin Fineff has pleaded guilty to multiple fraud-related offences. But the bookmakers who accepted his bets have kept the money.
Wilkie said his bill would ensure gambling companies pay closer attention to how bets are financed:
My bill puts a positive obligation on gambling companies to report to Austrac if they have reason to suspect a person is paying for a gambling service with money they’ve obtained illegally.
It also enables the federal court to order a gambling company to return stolen funds, where it’s found that a bettor has paid for a gambling service using funds they obtained illegally.
Josh Butler
Details of the censure motions for Thorpe and Babet
The censure motions are online. The proposed censure motion for Lidia Thorpe says the Senate “expresses its profound disapproval of Senator Thorpe’s disrespectful and disruptive protest at the Parliamentary Reception for their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla on 21 October 2024 given that the senator has many other avenues to express her views” – calling her behaviour “disruptive and disrespectful conduct”.
It goes further, to say that – if passed – the Senate “does not regard it as appropriate for Senator Thorpe to represent the Senate as a member of any delegation during the life of this parliament”.
The proposed censure motion for Ralph Babet calls on him to be censured “for his inflammatory use of hate speech, designed to drive division for his own political benefit” and that the Senate “assures all Australians that no matter their race, religion, gender, sex, or sexuality that they are valued, welcome members of our society”.
The censure motion “calls on all senators to engage in debates and commentary respectfully, and to refrain from inflammatory and divisive comments, both inside and outside the chamber, at all times”.
Josh Butler
Wong calls for ‘standards of respect’ in parliament
Back in the senate, Penny Wong is continuing on the censure motions:
These are actions which seek to incite outrage and grievance, actually to boost their own profiles, and this is part of a trend that we do see internationally, but quite frankly we don’t need here in Australia. We should deny them the attention they seek, but in doing so, we should also signal the upholding of standards.
Standards of respect, when we have dignitaries visit our parliament; in Senator [Lidia] Thorpe’s case, no less than the head of state. And standards of respect when it comes to talking about our fellow Australians, and in Senator [Ralph] Babet’s case, deliberate abuse of some of our fellow Australians.
Thorpe issues statement on censure motion: ‘I will not be silent’
Independent senator Lidia Thorpe issued a statement just prior to the censure motion, stating she “in no way” regrets protesting King Charles and “would do it again”.
It is time this country reckons with its history, and puts a stop to the continuing Genocide on First Peoples … Across the world, we see a fierce, united front declaring that the era of silence is over, truth-telling is here and the power of First People’s solidarity will not be denied.
Thorpe said she was “silenced and removed” from the king’s parliamentary reception “for pointing out that the Crown stole from First Peoples, and now the major parties want to try again to silence me and shut me down”.
I will not be silent. The truth is, this colony is built on stolen land, stolen wealth and stolen lives. The British Crown committed heinous crimes against the First Peoples of this country. These crimes include war crimes, crimes against humanity and failure to prevent genocide. The Crown must be held accountable for these crimes.
And this government must be held accountable for ongoing injustice against First Peoples in this country. Since my protest to the king in parliament, there have been three First Nations people die in custody that we know about. In just the last 11 months there have been 22 black deaths in custody.
Senate seeking to censure Lidia Thorpe and Ralph Babet
Josh Butler
Happening right now in the Senate, Labor’s Senate leader Penny Wong says the government and opposition are seeking to censure Lidia Thorpe and Ralph Babet with separate censure motions.
Thorpe’s censure relates to her interruption of King Charles’ reception at Parliament House on his visit – and Babet’s appears to be related to a controversial tweet he made after Donald Trump’s election win.
Wong claims the government “moves these motions reluctantly” and accuses both Thorpe and Babet of seeking to “get attention” with what she called “actions and stunts designed to create storms on social media”.
‘Covid is still with us’: Greens senator to miss parliament due to coronavirus infection
Greens senator Penny Allman-Payne says she will not attend parliament today as she has been diagnosed with Covid-19. She wrote in a post to X:
Thankfully I’m on the mend but this is a good reminder that Covid is still with us. Please take care. It’s maddening to be stuck in bed but hopefully I’ll be able to join my colleagues later in the week!
Hanson-Young on environment, housing legislation before the Senate
Let’s just circle back to an interview that Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young gave to ABC TV earlier this morning.
As we’ve already mentioned, the Greens have signalled they were prepared to pass the Nature Positive legislation in return for an Australia-wide ban on native-forest logging alone – the second concession on stalled legislation from the party in less than a week.
Asked if there was much dissension within the party before coming to this decision, Hanson-Young said “we had a very robust and good conversation about this”.
We know that the science is clear. The ice caps are melting and the climate crisis is getting worse, every time a new coal and gas mine is approved by the government, it makes the climate crisis worse, we do have to stop that. But the prime minister won’t budge. And you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. So we will have that fight at the election.
Asked if this was a reflection of the Greens being too obstructionist in the Senate, the senator said what the party is trying to do is “make sure we can deliver real positive change for people”.
Every negotiation takes movement from both sides, a bit of give and take. We have put on the table a new offer for the government over their housing legislation [and] we don’t think the housing bills before the Senate go anywhere near dealing with the crisis … But we do want to see if we can get some more support for those who are really struggling at the crisis point.
Dutton says he’s confident he can ‘work very effectively’ with Trump
Peter Dutton was asked about new polling suggesting 47% of voters believe he is better placed to engage and negotiate with Donald Trump.
Dutton argued he was “better equipped to lead our country” because “we have a weak prime minister at the moment who doesn’t know the difference between right and wrong when it comes to national security, his instincts are all wrong when it comes to the economy”.
I think in terms of our most important ally, the United States, and president Trump, I can work very effectively with him and with other world leaders, and I think I’ve demonstrated that in senior portfolios over a long period of time.
‘We want to see the books before we commit to any tax cuts,’ Dutton says
Peter Dutton was asked if the Coalition is walking away from committing to the stage-three tax cuts. He responded that “we want to see the books before we commit to any tax cuts”.
The government is spending money again. Back to the Reserve Bank governor’s constant warnings. Interest rates are higher in this country because the Albanese government continues to splash money out, and that fuels inflation, which keeps interest rates higher … So let’s see how much money is in the bank, and let’s see what room we have to move, but we’re going to act responsibly, as we’ve always done.