The Senate became a farce

Flat White I 27 November 2024 I Spectator Australia

The Editor-in-Chief of this publication, Rowan Dean, likes to refer to Canberra as a ‘Clown Show’ on his weekly Sunday program Outsiders.

Today was not so much a clown show as it was an embarrassing playpen full of tantrums and shouting.

‘You bring disgrace to the human race,’ said Senator Payman, of Senator Hanson.

‘Senator Hanson has worn the burqa in this place. Maybe it’s time she pack her burqa and go to Afghanistan to talk to the Taliban about this.’

You could almost see the taxpayer dollars ticking away in the top corner of the broadcast while this nonsense went on. The people in that room are paid a lot of money to sit there and listen.

At least Senator Babet was framed behind Senator Payman during her, shall we say, ‘speech’? His visual commentary on the outburst against Senator Hanson was almost a stand-in for the eye-brow raising and groaning of the Australian public.

The disgraceful scene came about after Senator Hanson questioned Senator Payman’s eligibility to sit in Parliament. This is a question that has caused trouble for plenty of elected representatives under Section 44, including the then-Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, Senator Roberts, and Senator Canavan.

Strange how no one cries racism when the dual citizenship in question is from the United Kingdom. If anything, the fiasco was considered a bit of a political stunt at the time given no one seriously thought they harboured any sort of ‘allegiance, obedience, or adherence to a foreign power’.

Rather, the question most Australians were left asking is, How did this happen?

If so many people in high-ranking roles managed to get themselves elected without this stuff being sorted out, what else is going wrong? At the very least, it was assumed that the process of vetting would be fixed to make sure political games could not be played with this in the future or, more importantly, to ensure that those with genuine conflicts of interest with foreign powers could not attain high office.

Questions about eligibility are serious and should be treated as such, not left as fodder for the press as we saw earlier today.

Senator Hanson is allowed to ask about Senator Payman’s possible Afghan citizenship, as agreed by Finance Minister Katy Gallagher, and Senator Payman is able to offer up documents and explanations etc to refute the claim, just as many others have done.

What Australians do not accept, or appreciate, are tirades accusing other senators of racism and especially not on the taxpayer dime.

This extends to Senator Thorpe, who tore up the motion and threw it at Senator Hanson and gave the middle finger over her shoulder, an action most unbecoming of an elected representative although not entirely surprising given Senator Thorpe’s behaviour to date. Sue Lines, the Senate President, has released a statement this afternoon about the interjections, comments shouted across the chamber, and the general disregard shown. ‘The nature of the interjections, shouting across the chamber, and reflecting on other senators is unparliamentary. It is incredibly disappointing that three years into the implementation of the recommendations of the Jenkins review, senators appear all too ready to descend into disorder, rather than seeking to conduct themselves in a safe and respectful manner. We must do better.’

Author: Flat White