Independent senator Lidia Thorpe has said she would “burn down” Parliament House in solidarity with Palestine if she had to, a comment that has received widespread backlash from both major parties.
Thorpe made the comments at a Melbourne pro-Palestine rally on Sunday, saying: “We stand with you every day, and we will fight every day, and we will turn up every day and if I have to burn down Parliament House to make a point… I am not here to make friends.”
Both Labor and the opposition said Thorpe’s rhetoric is inappropriate, as news comes of a ceasefire in Gaza.
On Monday, Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek described Thorpe’s comments as “absolutely irresponsible”, telling Seven’s Sunrise that Labor doesn’t “want to give it extra air” when asked by Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce why the government hasn’t responded to the threat.
“What we know for sure is that Australians want to see peace in the Middle East. We’re holding our breaths. We want the hostages returned tonight as they’re supposed to be. We want to see aid back into Gaza, and the rebuilding of Gaza,” Plibersek said.
Condemning Thorpe’s comments as well, Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke told RN he believes lawmakers should be working to turn down the temperature now that a ceasefire deal has been reached between Israel and Hamas.
“The concept of wanting to inflame, push the temperature up, is not what anyone should be doing, least of all a member of parliament,” Burke said, adding that he’s “not going to respond” to Thorpe’s threat “by increasing the heat in the opposite direction”.
“I really think it’s time for just turning the temperature down because there are two things, and we’ve got a chance of getting both. There are two things that Australians have been wanting. They’ve been wanting the killing to end, and they’ve been wanting to make sure that the conflict’s not brought here.”
“We might be looking right now at the chance for the killing to end. So, let’s also try to calm things down here,” Burke added.
Using similar rhetoric on “turning down the temperature”, cabinet minister Amanda Rishworth told Nine’s Today that “people have the right to protest, but it must be done in a respectful way and of course, any comments that inflame violence and hatred are inappropriate.”
“I think if fighting can stop in the Middle East, we need to make sure that we are turning the temperature down here at home,” Rishworth said.
Appearing opposite Rishworth on Nine’s Today, Deputy Opposition Leader Ted O’Brien also condemned Thorpe’s comments but took things further to criticise the Pro-Palestine protests, claiming they “go against [Australia’s] values”.
Liberal senator Jane Hume similarly called out Thorpe and accused Labor of not doing enough in response, noting that the Coalition “will consider its response”.
“They treat her like some crazy relative at a Christmas party rather than taking the threats seriously – rather than taking her disrespect for the institution of the Senate and indeed the parliament seriously,” Hume told Sky News, adding that “there’s more than 2000 people that work in Parliament House every day, and they have a right to feel safe in their workplace”.