Lidia Thorpe has sensationally accused a white Liberal senator of racism and said she wouldn’t tolerate being ‘racially vilified in her place of work’.
The racism claims follow the firebrand senator being interrupted while giving an acknowledgement of country.
Liberal Senator Holly Hughes was picked up by the official transcript muttering ‘how many times has that happened today?’ after the acknowledgement was made.
The comment was too faint to hear on playback footage, but was picked up on the official transcript and was clearly heard by Ms Thorpe, who was speaking on the opposite end of the chamber about the impact of climate change and colonisation.
Ms Thorpe’s response was immediate, with the newly independent senator pointing toward Ms Hughes and asking the chamber: ‘Is that racism?’
‘Can I just call out racism in this chamber right now, please? Acting Deputy President, I call it out.’
Firebrand Senator Lidia Thorpe has accused a Liberal politician of racism and vowed not to tolerate being ‘racially vilified in her place of work’
Ms Hughes immediately asked Ms Thorpe to withdraw the comments, which she refused to do.
‘I am in my workplace, and I don’t need racists being racist while I’m reading my speech,’ Ms Thorpe said.
‘Can you make sure that I am not targeted with racism while I’m trying to do my job, please?’
Ms Hughes immediately hit back, jumping to her feet and pointing at Ms Thorpe as she said it was inappropriate ‘to be referring to anyone in this place as racist’.
‘I would ask her to withdraw. That is absolutely inappropriate, and I will not be referred to by you as anything, let alone that.
‘I would just like to make the point that the constant reference to Australians who were born here from a different heritage being referred to as colonisers is not helpful in any way.’
Ms Thorpe doubled down on her criticism of Ms Hughes, requesting a review of the Hansard – or transcript – and vowing not to withdraw her comments ‘until you understand that I have just been racially vilified’.
Ms Hughes immediately hit back, jumping to her feet and pointing down Ms Thorpe as she said it was inappropriate ‘to be referring to anyone in this place as racist’
Ms Thorpe had been discussing the Safeguard Mechanism Amendment Bill and commending the Greens – her former party – on the concessions they won from Labor regarding coal and gas mining.
She said: ‘Last week the IPCC sounded a final warning alarm on the climate crisis. This crisis began over 250 years ago in this country, with colonisation. Climate change and its root causes cannot be separated from colonisation.
‘This land is our mother, and we are killing her. Every time a new coal pit is dug, she is wounded. With every new fracking well that is driven into her veins, she bleeds.’
Senator Thorpe noted First Nations people are hit ‘first and worst by the impacts of climate change’, yet have not benefitted from the industry.
‘These are industries that have generated trillions of dollars of stolen wealth, all at the cost of polluting and killing our lands, our waters and our skies,’ she said.
‘We are in a climate crisis, though I would like to remind you all that the majority of First Nations people have been in crisis every day since colonisation, as we have been pushed off our land and forced to stand back and watch the colonial project destroy our lands and waters in the pursuit of extracting fossil fuels. For this reason there can be no climate justice without First Nations justice.’
Greens leader Adam Bandt has today announced his party has struck a deal with Labor on the climate policy it took to the federal election
While she supports the Greens and Labor’s attempts to cut emissions, she has been in conversation with the government to take the bill one step further ‘to ensure First Nations people do not get left behind’.
She is calling on the government to allow First Nations people to be at the forefront of projects on their own land, paired with an investment in training these communities.
‘I will continue working with the government and hope to get their support for this amendment,’ she said.
‘I look forward to continue working with the government and others in this parliament to ensure that First Nations justice remains at the core of climate action in this country.’
The safeguard mechanism, which was initiated by the coalition government but is being overhauled by Labor, will apply to the country’s 215 biggest emitters and force them to reduce their emissions by 4.9 per cent each year
The Senate was last night debating amendments to the bill days after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Greens leader Adam Bandt struck a deal.
Mr Bandt’s deal means Energy Minister Chris Bowen’s safeguard mechanism will now be able to pass through the Senate, after weeks of Labor claiming the Greens could vote down the proposal, as they did to Kevin Rudd’s emissions plan in 2009.
Before the deal, Mr Bandt and his party had expressed concerns the government’s plan could make the climate crisis worse and the minor party’s founder, Bob Brown, railed against the policy.
The policy will require the country’s top 215 carbon dioxide emitters to cut pollution by five per cent per year through to 2030 and will place a ‘hard cap’ on emissions.
Mr Bandt said the bill will include a ‘pollution trigger’ that will require the climate change minister, currently Mr Bowen, to test the impact of new or expanded polluting projects on the country’s cap and net carbon budgets.
He said the amendments he’d secured would ensure gas and coal industries took a ‘big hit’ moving forward.
Mr Bandt said: ‘There will now be, in legislation, a hard cap on actual emissions that the safeguard sector can emit.
‘This puts a limit on coal and gas expansion in this country. In fact, the limit must decline over time.
‘There will be, in law for the first time in this country, a limit on the amount of pollution that these corporations including the coal and gas corporations, can pollute.
‘I want to say to everyone who despairs about the future under our climate crisis and who is worried about their lives or their kids’ or their grandkids’, you should have a spring in your step today because we have shown that it is possible to take on the coal and gas corporations and win.’
On Monday, Indigenous traditional owners from the Beetaloo Basin region told Daily Mail Australia they were ‘grateful’ for the decision.
Beetaloo is located 400 kilometres south of Darwin and contains enough shale gas to power Australia for up to 200 years.
On Monday, Indigenous traditional owners from the Beetaloo Basin region told Daily Mail Australia they were ‘grateful’ for the decision (Pictured: Members of the Nurrdalinji Aboriginal Corporation, including both Johnny Wilson and Samuel Sandy)
Johnny Wilson said: ‘Our country is in the hands of these big gas companies and I feel very grateful that we may one day not have to fight to protect our land, sacred sites, culture and water.
‘No one has seen the jobs and economic benefits which have long been promised by the fracking companies, and we do not believe they will ever come.
‘We want to live peacefully on our country and keep it safe for our children and grandchildren.
‘The future lies with power from the sun, not drilling into my grandparent’s country and damaging water and everything that relies on it.’
And Samuel Janama Sandy, an elder and Deputy Chairman of Nurrdalinji Aboriginal Corporation, said the community is ‘happy to hear about the new laws which may mean gas companies have to work harder to get their projects through’.
‘Fracking will hurt our country, songlines, dreaming and water,’ he said.
‘We need to protect the environment, the bird life and the animals and keep it safe for future generations and I hope we can continue to take our grandchildren and swim in the waterholes and drink the clean water.’
Johnny Wilson said: ‘Our country is in the hands of these big gas companies and I feel very grateful that we may one day not have to fight to protect our land, sacred sites, culture and water’
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk