Controversial Greens senator Lidia Thorpe sparked chaos at the Midwinter Ball on Wednesday night after storming through Parliament’s Marble Foyer giving guests the middle finger.
Senator Thorpe, who was one of four Greens on the event’s guest list, raised her fist, and middle fingers, and yelled about ‘fossil fools’ before joining a protest outside.
The Greens senator was dressed in blue jeans and an Aboriginal flag T-shirt during her chaotic stunt and later joined an ‘Alternative Midwinter Ball’ on the parliament lawns from Extinction Rebellion.
The protest featured ‘sorrowful’ music and dancing black wraiths and saw federal MPs attend.
Later, Senator Thorpe reappeared in the Marble Foyer shouting ‘stop destroying the planet, criminals’.
Greens Senator for Victoria Lidia Thorpe raises her fist during her swearing-in ceremony in the Senate chamber at Parliament House
Ms Thorpe sparked chaos at the Midwinter Ball on Wednesday night after storming through Parliament’s Marble Foyer giving guests the middle finger
Senator Thorpe’s stunt was backed up by Greens colleague Sarah Hanson-Young, who arrived wearing a long white dress with ‘End gas and coal’ written on the back of it.
Senator Jacqui Lambie expressed concern about the Greens senator’s stunt.
‘She’s really been pushing it, especially today with this stunt and in the Senate, she might need to be a bit careful,’ she said.
Senator Thorpe’s boss, Greens MP Adam Bandt and his partner Claudia Perkins also caused a stir.
In the past, Ms Perkins had ‘coal kills’ shaved into her head, while on Wednesday night she had that slogan and also ‘gas kills’ written in black and red all over her otherwise white dress.
‘I think given we’re in a climate crisis it’s really appalling that Labor is exploring 114 new gas projects, and we wanted to make that point to as many people as possible at once,’ she said.
While Senator Hanson-Young and Ms Perkins used their attendance in striking dresses to make political statements, their colleagues Jordon Steele-John and Larissa Waters both said they would not attend the event.
‘Tonight’s Midwinter Ball is yet another reminder of the perverse hold coal and gas have over our government, no matter who leads it. I will not be attending,’ Senator Steele-John said.
‘Watching MPs swan about in suits and sparkles at an event openly sponsored by coal and gas is frankly sickening.
‘When contrasted with the reality of the climate crisis in places like Pakistan, in places like Lismore, we see where the political class’ priorities lie.’
Greens Leader Adam Bandt (left) is pictured with his partner Claudia Perkins, whose dress is being used as a billboard for her views on environmental policies
Sarah Hanson-Young makes a showcase entrance to the Midwinter Ball with a long white dress decorated with a call to ‘end gas and coal’
Senator Sarah Hanson-Young’s floor length dress also features environmental slogans when seen from the front
Senator Dorinda Cox, Greens Leader Adam Bandt, partner Claudia Perkins and Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young are pictured at the Midwinter Ball in Canberra
Wednesday’s stunt was the latest from Senator Thorpe, who previously called the Queen a ‘coloniser’ as she was sworn in as an Australian senator last month.
Dressed in black, the 48-year-old marched across the floor of the Senate in Canberra and mockingly recited her version of the oath of allegiance to Her Majesty.
With her right fist in the air in a Black Power salute, she recited: ‘I sovereign, Lidia Thorpe, do solemnly and sincerely swear that I will be faithful and I bear true allegiance to the colonising Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.’
As other senators voiced criticism, Labor’s Senate president Sue Lines told the Greens senator: ‘You are required to recite the oath as printed on the card. Please recite the oath.’
Senator Thorpe, who has Aboriginal and European ancestors, reluctantly repeated the oath as printed.
Amid the commotion another senator was heard to say: ‘None of us like it.’
She was immediately condemned by other politicians and received widespread criticism from Australians.
One described her as an ‘Angela Davis wannabe’ – a reference to the US Black Power leader – and admonished for her ‘unthinking and infantile approach to closing the gap’ between Caucasian and Indigenous people.
Social media critics described Senator Thorpe as an embarrassment.
But Senator Thorpe tweeted that Indigenous people – who lived in Australia before the British arrived – never surrendered to colonialists.
‘Sovereignty never ceded,’ she wrote.
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