Lidia Thorpe will ‘never kneel to the coloniser’ after Senate issues sanction for King Charles tirade

A defiant Lidia Thorpe says she will “never kneel to the coloniser” after a Senate rebuke for her foul-mouthed tirade against King Charles.

Wearing a “not my King” necklace around her neck, the Indigenous senator literally tore up a paper copy of the Senate censure motion just hours after the major parties teamed up to pass it through the upper house.

The Senate also censured United Australia Party senator Ralph Babet for “inflammatory use of hate speech” after he posted racist, homophobic and ablest slurs online.

Leader of the Government in the Senate Penny Wong said the twin censure motions were moved “reluctantly” because Senator Thorpe and Senator Babet behaved like they did to attract attention.

“Engaging in actions, stunts designed to create storms on social media, but offering nothing of substance to improve anyone’s life,” Senator Wong said.

“These are actions that seek to incite outrage and grievance, actually to boost their own profiles.”

Senator Thorpe sparked outrage and immediate calls to resign after launching an extraordinary tirade at King Charles during a formal reception in Parliament House in October, in which she labelled the monarch a “genocidalist” and said “F... the colony”.

The text of the censure motion – which passed 46 votes to 12 - called on the Senate to express its “profound disapproval” of Senator Thorpe’s “disrespectful and disruptive” protest at the October 21 reception and condemn her “disrespect of democratic institutions”.

Speaking to reporters after the vote, Senator Thorpe said she had no regrets about standing up to “King Coloniser”.

“I will never kneel to the coloniser,” she said.

“I’m proud that I stood up against King Coloniser who continues to oppress us by having his hands still on what goes on in this country. So shame on the king.”

A delayed flight into Canberra on Monday morning meant Senator Thorpe was not in the chamber while the sanction was being debated.

She rushed in for the start of debate on Senator Babet’s censure, shouting “shame on you all”.

The censure motion also stated the Senate did not think it was appropriate for Senate Thorpe to represent it on any delegation in the final months of this Parliament.

She said that put her participation in a parliamentary visit to Tuvalu and Fiji in doubt.

Senator Thorpe accused her upper house colleagues of racism and double standards after that sanction was not imposed on Senator Babet as punishment for his vile tweets.

In a post to X after Donald Trump’s election win, the right-wing provocateur used the words “phaggot (sic)” “retard” and “n*****”.

Opposition leader in the Senate Simon Birmingham said Senator Babet’s comments were “repugnant, are abhorrent and have no place in proper, orderly, civil conduct and debate in 2024”.

“People are free to rail against political correctness, or so called wokeism, but the way to do that is not to offend your fellow Australians,” Senator Birmingham said.

Senator Babet also missed debate on his censure motion after his flight to Canberra was cancelled.

The censure motion passed on the “voices”, meaning it didn’t go to a formal vote.