5 hours Ago By Tess Ikonomou
Independent senator Lidia Thorpe has been suspended from parliament after she threw pieces of paper at Pauline Hanson in the upper house. The One Nation leader attempted to refer former Labor senator Fatima Payman to a parliamentary committee over her dual Afghan citizenship, questioning her eligibility to sit in the upper house. Senator Thorpe backed Senator Payman, yelling "convicted racist" at Senator Hanson as she threw torn up documents at her.
Senator Thorpe gave the middle finger over her shoulder as she walked out of the chamber. Foreign Minister Penny Wong moved the motion to suspend Senator Thorpe from parliament until the end of Thursday, with 46 ayes to 11 noes. She said debate in parliament had turned to "aggression, to hateful and personal attacks" which could not be tolerated in the workplace.
"We all have a responsibility for our behaviour, whether in this place or contributing to public debate," Senator Wong said. "We are all elected to represent Australians and their interests. "We express our views respectfully to understand each other's perspectives and those of our electors, and ultimately to reach a majority view about the best path forward.
" Labor and the coalition, including Senator Hanson, voted in favour of the motion, while the Greens voted against it. Senator Thorpe's staff attended - but she did not. There's one scheduled day of sittings left on Thursday, before parliament is expected to return in February next year.
Under Section 44 of the constitution, dual-citizens are not allowed to sit in parliament. Senator Payman has made previous representations to renounce her Afghan citizenship, but cannot due to the Taliban's takeover. Senator Thorpe was censured by the upper house over her publicised protest against King Charles during the monarch's visit to Parliament House in October.
Generating global coverage, the Indigenous senator claimed the monarch had "committed genocide against our people" and urged him to "give us what you stole from us - our bones, our skulls, our babies, our people". Censure motions do not have any legal consequences but they are rare, and give parliamentarians the chance to formally express their disapproval of colleagues..
