Australian Senator Lidia Thorpe yesterday was pulled to the ground after attempting to storm the stage at a rally in Canberra held by Standing for Women founder Kellie-Jay Keen, who also goes by the name Posie Parker.
Draped in an Aboriginal flag, Thorpe struggled with police before she was stopped.
She returned to the cheers of people at a rally calling for transsexual rights led by Thorpe and Australian Senator Janet Rice.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Thorpe, who recently staged a protest attempting to block the Sydney Mardi Gras parade to protest Indigenous deaths in custody, said she had moved on Keen to protest “homophobia and transphobia.”
“As a sovereign black woman, I’ve come to let these people know that they are not welcome on this country,” Thorpe told reporters. “We do not tolerate this on Ngunnawal and Ngambri country.”
“This government needs to answer why these people are allowed into this country,” she said.
Thorpe also complained about her treatment by Australian federal police (AFP), alleging that their actions constituted assault.
A spokesperson for Thorpe later said that the incident involved private security officers as well as police officers.
The matter is being investigated by the federal police.
“The interactions between the [Australian federal police] and protesters will be reviewed, and an incident has been referred to the AFP’s professional standards command,” police officials said.
In a video of the incident, voices — apparently of security personnel interacting with Thorpe — call on her to “stand up” while she is on the ground.
On one side of the event, Parker addressed a crowd of about 30 supporters, joined by Australian senators Pauline Hanson, Malcolm Roberts and Ralph Babet.
On the other side, about 100 people led chants and held placards.
In January, Australian Representative Stephen Bates wrote to Australian Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs Andrew Giles, calling on him to revoke Keen’s visa, but the request was referred onward.
Outside Parliament House yesterday, protesters chanted: “Posie Parker, you can’t hide, you’ve got Nazis on your side.”
In a video streamed on social media, Parker said that the protests were an attempt to “silence” her and that she had been “aggressed upon.”
Hanson was challenged by one protester with the question: “What are One Nation going to do about it?” referring to the party she heads.
The party could “make a difference, if you give us the power to do it” by putting the minor party in the balance of power, she said in reply.
Hanson said that the party’s motions, such as one banning gender reassignment surgery for children under 18 had been defeated by major parties who are “not interested” in the issue.
On the sidelines of the protest, Babet said that there was “nobody here from the coalition” government in attendance, calling them “weak and gutless.”
Additional reporting by staff writer
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