Politics live updates: Lidia Thorpe says she’s the ‘naughty little black girl’, hits out at double standards

The Senate has kicked off the day’s sitting with a shouting match as Senators slam the government for trying to ram through 36 bills at the last minute.

An angry Jacqui Lambie blasted Labor for demanding the “the mother of all guillotines” to shut down debate in the rush to vote on a raft of major bills.

“It is dangerous to shove bills down our throats,” shouted the Tasmanian senator, calling out the “hypocrisy” of forcing employees to work so much overtime in the face of the parliament’s recent “right to disconnect” laws.

“To say that I am disappointed in this government is an understatement, it doesn’t even cut it,” she said.

Simon Birmingham, leader of the Coalition in the Senate, chimed in with his support. “What Jacqui said!” he added.

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher defended the government’s actions, saying the legislation had been in the works for months.

It’s D-Day for legislators in Canberra as the government tries to ram through 36 major bills before the end of term, including a controversial social media ban for under-16s, new migration laws and reforms to the Reserve Bank of Australia.

“If people want to sit through the night, we are prepared to do that,” Finance Minister Katy Gallagher told ABC’s Radio National breakfast. “It’s going to be a bit of a ride.”

Ms Gallagher defended the last-minute rush as a natural build-up towards the end of the year, but also blamed opposition leader Peter Dutton’s Coalition for a sustained strategy of “blocking and frustrating” key legislation.

The government may resort to the so-called “guillotine” technique to fast-track their priorities – a term used to describe closing the floor for debate in order to go straight to a vote. The move allows for votes on amendments but without prior debate.

READ MORE

The Government’s long-awaited electoral reforms which would cap political donations will not be one of the dozens of Bills it tries to ram through the Senate today, after negotiations broke down with the Coalition.

Instead, Special Minister of State DOn Farrell would keep negotiating and try again in February, when Parliament is due to resume.

“It’s off the table for today but Senator Farrell will be working over summer with all senators across the Senate chamber to try and reach agreement for that,” she told ABC Radio.

“We want to get big money out of politics. We want to have donation caps. We haven’t been able to land that.”

Amendments were proposed in the Senate late last night, as independents rallied to oppose the legislation they say would unfairly disadvantage their electoral chances.

She said the Government’s “intention” was to come back in February, despite speculation a March election would be called.

The hopes are for other bills including nature positive and production tax credits would finally be able to pass before the next election, she said.

“This suspension actually allows me to hang out with the people and go protest on the lawns.” Senator Thorpe said.

“It makes it very difficult for the Government to pass legislation because they needed my vote.

“I hope they have a good day in the Senate and they may not be able to pass the legislation that needs to be passed today because they suspended me from participating and they suspended me for standing up to a racist.”

“No-one tells me the rules around here until I break them,” Senator Thorpe said.

“I think they make it up as they go along and that is part of the problem.

“It seems like there’s one rule for white people who get away with racism and there’s one rule for us when we call that out, we’re the ones that are the naughty little black girl again.

“That’s OK if you want to call me that and call me disruptive but I will not stand there, or sit there and be silent when people of colour are being attacked with racism.

Senator Lidia Thorpe has out at the Government after she was suspended from the senate.

The senator was suspended for the rest of the week after she tore up papers and threw them at Pauline Hanson during a tense parliamentary debate.

“I would do it all over again. I will do what it takes to stamp out racism that I have experienced all my life,” Ms Thorpe said on ABC News Breakfast.

“We need to stand up to racism.

“Senator Faruqi and I put through a motion on Monday to inquire on Senate procedures to ensure racism wasn’t part of our workplace everyday.

“Labor sided with the Coalition to railroad that motion and have an in-house inquiry into racism in the Senate that no-one can see.

“We wanted the public to see a proper inquiry into stamping out racism in the chamber and we weren’t successful in ensuring that that can be thoroughly done in a way that everybody can see the problems in our workplace.”

Australians could save 800 million hours on the phone or in queues waiting to speak with government agencies over the next decade if greater investments are made in digital services.

State and federal governments would also reap rewards from a greater digital push, according to a study by Adobe and Mandala Partners, which identified potential savings of $12 billion.

But the Digital Government Index, which surveyed government services in six countries, also found Australia’s digital score had slipped since 2023, dragged down by fewer multilingual options and content that was harder to read.

The findings come a week after the federal government launched a new digital identification app, myID, and after the NSW government announced plans to make all its digital services accessible and inclusive by 2030.

The Adobe study, in its third year, investigated 17 Australian state and federal government services and rated them according to site performance, digital equity and customer experience.

Across all three measures, Australia scored 67 out of 100, with its rating falling due to smaller investments in accessible and readable content, Adobe digital strategy group director John Mackenney said.

The fall followed two years of improving scores, he said, as governments tried to reach more citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As government investment has declined in this area, and as they’re trying to balance budgets, what we’ve seen is that improvement is now flat,” he said.

READ MORE

Popular podcast host Joe Rogan and SpaceX Founder Elon Musk have responded to a brazen attack from ABC chair Kim Williams.

Mr Williams asked about the “Rogan effect” while speaking at the National Press Club on Wednesday.

The “Rogan effect” refers to wildly popular podcaster Joe Rogan who has become one of the most influential people in the world.

“I am not a consumer or enthusiast about Mr Rogan and his work,” Mr Williams said.

He said, acknowledging he was not one of his ‘three billion’ audience.

“I think that people like Mr Rogan prey on people’s vulnerabilities. They prey on fear.”

“They prey on anxiety. They prey on all of the elements that contribute to uncertainty in society, and they entrepreneur fantasy outcomes and conspiracy outcomes as being a normal part of social narrative.”

“I personally find it deeply repulsive … to think that someone has such remarkable power,” he added.

“I’m also absolutely in dismay that this can be a source of public entertainment, when it’s really treating the public as plunder for entrepreneurs that are really quite malevolent.”

Rogan acknowledge the attack on X after Williams’ attack, writing: “LOL WUT.”

Mr Musk shared the Rogans tweet, adding: “From the head of Australian government-funded media, their Pravda,” likening Mr Williams to the Russian Communist Party newspaper.

President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees and transition team are working closely with the Federal Bureau of Investigation after “numerous bomb threats” were made against the incoming administration.

“The FBI is aware of numerous bomb threats and swatting incidents targeting incoming administration nominees and appointees, and we are working with our law enforcement partners,” the Bureau said in a statement on Thursday.

“We take all potential threats seriously and, as always, encourage members of the public to immediately report anything they consider suspicious to law enforcement.”

The FBI and Mr Trump’s team have not yet named targets, however, Republicans are starting to speak out about the terrifying incidents.

New York Republican Elise Stefanik, nominated as the next US ambassador the United Nations by the president-elect, has been identified as one of the targets, with her office stating the treat came while she was in a car with her young child.

“This morning, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, her husband, and their three year old son were driving home to Saratoga County from Washington for Thanksgiving when they were informed of a bomb threat to their residence,” her office said.

READ MORE

Children younger than 16 are all but set to be banned from social media, with federal parliament poised to enact the world-first legislation.

The Senate is expected on Thursday to pass the laws that would ban young people from platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok with bipartisan support.

However, there has been concern the proposal has been rushed through parliament without proper scrutiny, given Australia would be the first country to implement such a ban.

The ban would come into effect one year after the laws pass the parliament, with trials of age-verification technology still being carried out by the federal government.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said the age limit would help children to be safe online.

“We know parents are concerned about the harms to children and we have taken a decision to support them,” she told parliament.

“Keeping Australians safe online requires decisive action and the Albanese government is delivering exactly that.”

​READ MORE​