Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe suspended from Senate after wild outburst against Pauline Hanson over Fatima Payman’s dual citizenship

Ms Thorpe was suspended at around 6pm on Wednesday evening after repeatedly shouting that the One Nations leader was a “convicted racist” after Ms Hanson raised questions about Fatima Payman’s dual nationality with Afghanistan.

The Victorian independent senator will now no longer be able to sit in the Senate chamber on Thursday, the last day of the year.

The former Greens senator tore up documents on Ms Payman’s eligibility for the Senate and threw them at Ms Hanson before sticking up her middle finger and leaving the room.

While Labor and the Coalition voted 46 to 11 to suspend Ms Thorpe, her former Greens colleagues voted against the motion.

Senate leader Penny Wong denounced Ms Thorpe’s actions in a speech on Wednesday evening.

“There have been dozens of instances, including multiple instances, where Senator Thorpe made inappropriate, sometimes insulting comments to other senators and then disrupted proceedings by refusing to recuse himself,” Wong said.

“Despite efforts to work with Senator Thorpe, she is increasingly exhibiting such behavior in this Senate.”

Senate President Sue Lines explained that she had met with Deputy President Andrew McLachlan, alongside Senate leaders from Labour, the Coalition and the Greens, to determine what action should be taken after Ms Thorpe threw the newspaper at Ms Hanson.

“I have now had the opportunity to have those discussions which made it clear to me that Senators from across the House believe the behavior involved was deeply disorderly,” Ms Lines said.

It comes after the Senate descended into chaos on Wednesday when Ms Hanson questioned Ms Payman’s dual citizenship and whether she had done enough to renounce her Afghan citizenship.

When she was elected a Labor senator in 2022, Ms Payman was forced to prove she had made efforts to revoke her Afghan citizenship.

However, as the Islamic Emirate has been taken over by the Taliban, Ms Payman has insisted it was virtually impossible for her to obtain evidence that she renounced her citizenship.

Ms Thorpe’s suspension comes after she was criticized by the Senate last week for shouting at King Charles during his visit to Australia.

The senator was seen marching through the main hall of Parliament and publicly denouncing the monarch.

There’s more to come.