“We will fight every day,” she said. “And if I have to burn down Parliament House to make a point … I am not there to make friends. I’m there to get justice for our people.”
Senator Lidia Thorpe addresses Sunday’s pro-Palestinian rally.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
The federal opposition’s Senate leader, Michaelia Cash, later released a statement calling Thorpe’s statements “disgraceful and shocking but unfortunately unsurprising”. Cash said the opposition would “consider options available within the Senate to hold Senator Thorpe accountable”.
A Coalition source said options such as the censure of the independent senator, or a referral to the privileges committee, would be considered.
Also speaking to the thousands of protesters gathered at the State Library in Melbourne on Sunday was Palestinian activist Sarah Baarini, who said that while there had been a ceasefire called by Israel, it “does not mean liberation”.
“A ceasefire does not mean a free Palestine. A ceasefire is only a temporary respite for the Palestinian people, and let’s be honest – Israel cannot be trusted.”
Palestinian activist Sarah Baarini at the CBD rally. Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
Indigenous activist Gary Foley also spoke – though only briefly, saying “my lungs are f—ed, so I can’t speak for long”.
He urged Australians not to be “fooled by fake Trump bullshit – the fight goes on, the struggle goes on”. He said he wanted to “express the solidarity of the Aboriginal people with our Palestinian brothers and sisters. We stand with you in our mutual struggles for justice and freedom.”
Earlier at Caulfield Park, about 200 members of the Jewish community gathered to celebrate what they hope will be the end of captivity for the remaining hostages held by Hamas since 2023.
Among those to address the crowd was Liberal MP for Caulfield David Southwick, who said he hoped Monday’s hostage return would reduce the level of antisemitism he had seen since October 7, 2023.
“My hope is when the hostages finally come back, that things also go back to the way they were, and we can be finally welcome again – what we have seen as a community should never happen to anybody,” Southwick said. “Everybody should feel welcome, no matter who you are.”
State Liberal MP David Southwick (centre) addresses the crowd while flanked by fellow Liberal MPs James Newbury and Georgie Crozier. They joined about 200 members of the Jewish community who gathered on Sunday morning in Caulfield Park.Credit: Clay Lucas
About 1200 people were killed during Hamas’ cross-border assault in 2023, and 251 were abducted.
AP reported last week that Israel’s retaliatory offensive had killed more than 67,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants.