Independent senator Lidia Thorpe says First Nations people in Australia are used to being shut down as she remains defiant in the face of criticism .
Thorpe said in an interview with SBS News that her parliamentary colleagues talk about free speech while trying to silence her.
Asked on Thursday about the public blowback from her protest — at which she repeatedly shouted: “You are not our king. You are not our sovereign” — Thorpe said it was “just another day in the colony”.
“You can make new rules, but Blak people in this country are used to being shut down and obviously the parliament are shuffling around very busily to work out a way to shut me down.”
Thorpe referred to Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s call for her to resign following her protest against the King’s visit.
“Of course Dutton’s going to have a go at me, but these same people talk about free speech. It’s not free speech when you’re a Blak woman.”
Thorpe said the parliamentary process of swearing allegiance to the king was “outdated” but did not clarify whether she had any allegiance to the King.
“I have allegiance to my people, my country, my water. That’s my allegiance”.
She also referred to Queensland MP Bob Katter’s claim in parliament in November last year that he had never sworn allegiance to a monarch.
“I have never, ever agreed to give allegiance to a foreign monarch,” Katter said.
“So check that out and maybe go talk to Bob Katter, the old white fella, and stop picking on the Blak woman that’s calling this country out for what it is,” she said.
Thorpe said she had been inundated with messages of love and her activism had “lit a fire in people’s bellies”.
“Blackfellas around the country have got a fire burning in their belly that they haven’t had for quite some time.
“I had a phone call with a prisoner about an hour ago and he said, sister, thank you for what you’ve done, all the lads in here are so proud you’ve given us strengths.”
Allegiance to Queen’s ‘hairs’ unintentional
Thorpe has also backtracked on an earlier account of her oath of allegiance, which prompted widespread criticism from Senate colleagues and set off speculation about the legality of her office.
On Wednesday, Thorpe told the ABC she swore an oath of allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II’s “hairs”, rather than her heirs, when taking her seat in 2022.
She now says she misspoke and was reading what was written in front of her.
“I spoke what I read on the card. Now my English literature and language isn’t great. It’s part of my resistance, if you like.”
Thorpe said she signed the card “that needed to be signed for me to fulfil my role as a senator in this country and to bring Blak justice into that place because they’ve denied us for so long”.
When spelt sans the ‘c’, ‘Blak’ is a term that only applies to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and signifies urban, contemporary Indigeneity. The term has also become important in differentiating the Blak experience from the racialised experiences of non-Indigenous communities of colour.
The senator has so far rejected , saying: “no-one can kick me out”.
She maintained her place in the Senate was necessary to “get justice” for First Nations people — raising concerns about the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care and the high suicide rates among First Nations people.
Suicide is now the leading cause of death for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged between 15-39, .
Senate is ‘challenged’ by Thorpe’s behaviour
The federal government’s leader in the Senate, Foreign Minister Penny Wong, said Thorpe’s initial admission of a deliberate mispronunciation in her oath was “an unusual thing”.
“I have to say, we’re all part of an institution that is the parliament and our democracy, and within that, we have very different views,” she told ABC television.
However, Wong said Thorpe needed to “reflect on the institution of which she is a part, and how she wishes to play a role in that institution”.
Thorpe also defended taking a salary for sitting in the Senate, saying: “It’s paying the rent”.
“I’m getting paid by the colony to bring up the issues that my people raise with me,” she said.
Labor Senator Katy Gallagher also said Thorpe needed to consider her position.
“We need to work out a way to ensure that the institution of the Senate … is upheld and respected, and I think that’s at times challenged with some behaviour in particular from Senator Thorpe,” she told ABC radio.
“She also does like the attention that comes from these … public displays.
“We’ll work with people across the chamber about what the appropriate response is.”
With additional reporting from the Australian Associated Press.