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What happened in the last sitting fortnight of 2024

Racism was the word of the week for the final parliamentary sitting fortnight of 2024.

 

Last updated 3 December 2024

On Monday 18 November, I was censured for my attempt to hold Charles III to account for the actions of his ancestors, as he is a beneficiary of the past and ongoing Genocide of First Peoples here, and across the world. Senator Mehreen Faruqi stood up to defend me, calling out how Black and Brown women are consistently silenced in the Federal parliament. She was made to withdraw these comments, which spoke of racism and what Black and Brown people, especially women, experience in the chamber. 

I was also kicked off a parliamentary delegation to Fiji and Tuvalu because I dared to call out the King for the genocide of First Peoples, preventing by the major parties from strengthening ties with First Peoples in the Pacific. Meanwhile, a Senator who made appalling racist, homophobic and ableist comments online was dealt a more lenient consequence by the Senate.

On Monday 25 November, along with Senator Mehreen Faruqi, I moved a motion in the Senate calling for the Standing Committee on Procedures to conduct an inquiry into racism within Parliament. It was no surprise for Senator Faruqi and I, along with other non-white Senators in the Chamber, to see that our motion for an inquiry into racism was watered down into a closed inquiry with no participating members allowed, resulting in Senator Wong being the only non-white person on the committee. It is a farcical notion indeed, for no First Peoples to be on a committee that investigates senate procedures in the colony’s most significant and violent institution, Parliament House.

On Tuesday 26 November 2024, the Race Discrimination Commissioner released a report that outlines several recommendations for the Government to take to address racism in this country. Whilst there are limitations in the report conducted by the Human Rights Commission, I was glad to see organisations who have been leading anti-racism work in the colony like the Jumbunna Institute were consulted in the creation of the report. This allows for First Peoples ideas and experiences to be centred, without having authored the report directly. I spoke at a press conference about the need to look into racism in parliament and in wider society, and the need for the government to engage with the Race Discrimination Commissioner’s report. 

On Wednesday 27 November, Senator Pauline Hanson began targeting Senator Fatima Payman’s eligibility and citizenship over an alleged section 44 dual citizenship issue. This attack had no validity, as Senator Payman provided a copy of the legal advice she sought some years ago that confirmed her eligibility for being a senator, yet Pauline Hanson chose to ignore this and press ahead with her racially motivated attack against Senator Payman. Only last month, the Federal Court found Hanson had racially vilified Senator Mehreen Faruqi by posting a tweet telling her to “pi** off back to Pakistan”. I was in the Chamber to witness Senator Payman’s response to Hanson, and it was during this time that I decided to rip up the letter Senator Hanson sought to table, as this was clearly a racist act that sought to undermine and intimidate Senator Payman. 

As a result of this, the President of the Senate Sue Lines read out a statement calling out my behaviour towards Senator Hanson in the chamber and referring to standing order 203 which provides an avenue for dealing with ‘disorderly conduct’. Senator Wong then moved a motion to suspend me for the final sitting day of the year, which was then voted on. Despite the Greens voting against it, and others abstaining, the suspension was successful. 

On Thursday 28th November, I was suspended from the Senate for the day, meaning I could not enter the chamber. The major impact of this was that it meant I was not able to have my private senators bill into Genocide debated and voted on. Each senator gets one slot per year, and not only did this prevent the debate of my Criminal Law Amendment (Genocide, Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes) Bill 2024, but we missed an important opportunity to debate how to improve accountability of governments in this country to the prosecution of genocide.

Even though I was unable to attend the Senate, I was able to meet with my party room, the Blak Sovereign Movement. We were joined by people from around the continent in a protest to highlight the ongoing Genocides here and around the world. I was joined by hundreds of Elders, protestors, community organisers and people affected by Genocide from Palestine, Kanaky, West Papua and elsewhere. We stood together, we ate together, we shared our stories - knowing our liberation is not something that will be determined by a vote in a colonial chamber. 

I was also still able to introduce a Genocide Red Lines bill package, along with Senator Fatima Payman, which targets genocide risks reporting, weapons export and super fund investments into industries fuelling genocide. You can read more about these three bills here.

The fight continues.