ABC Retracts Lidia Thorpe’s Inaccurate Racism Comment About Pauline Hanson

Ex-Deputy Leader of the Greens in the Senate Lidia Thorpe speaks to the crowd with mock blood on her hands on September 22, 2022 in Melbourne, Australia. Indigenous groups have held "Abolish the Monarchy" rallies around Australia on Thursday to highlight the impact of British colonisation in Australia. Thursday 22 September was declared a one-off public holiday as a National Day of Mourning for Australia following Queen Elizabeth II's death. Photo by Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) has publicly retracted a comment made by Senator Lidia Thorpe on its Breakfast show about fellow Senator Pauline Hanson.

The clarification came after Thorpe, who previously made headlines for yelling at King Charles, had appeared on the show after she was suspended from the Upper House for ripping up a motion by Hanson.

On Nov. 28, Hanson had attempted to present a document to Parliament questioning the eligibility of former Labor Senator Fatima Payman, due to the fact she holds dual Afghan citizenship.

Section 44C states that a federal politician cannot sit if they hold foreign citizenship.

It was argued that Payman had attempted to part with her Afghan citizenship while sitting with Labor, but had encountered difficulty due to the government in Afghanistan.

Thorpe is expected to be barred from Parliament for at least two sitting days for her outburst, which included throwing the pages at Hanson and giving the middle finger as she walked out.

Her conduct prompted both major parties to support her removal from the sittings.

She later yelled phrases “free, free Palestine” and “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” to the Senate despite having been removed.

Thorpe’s conduct elicited condemnation from Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who said the Senator’s behaviour would “not be tolerated in any workplace.”

Later, while on the ABC Breakfast program, Thorpe made an incorrect comment that Senator Hanson was a “convicted racist.”

The comment was in reference to a successful racial vilification case brought against Hanson by Greens Deputy Leader Mehreen Faruqi, who she told to “piss off back to Pakistan” after Faruqi criticised the late Queen Elizabeth II.

But Hanson’s comment did not amount to a conviction because the case was a civil proceeding and was not held in a criminal court.

“We just want to correct the record on something said on the show yesterday,” ABC News Breakfast host Bridget Brennan said.

“We invited Senator Lidia Thorpe on the program to discuss why she tore up a motion One Nation Senator Pauline Hanson put to the floor of Parliament on Wednesday.

“At the very end of the interview, Senator Thorpe said Pauline Hanson was a—quote—‘convicted racist.’

“Now, Senator Thorpe was referring to a ruling in a civil trial that found Pauline Hanson racially discriminated against Deputy Greens Leader Mehreen Faruqi in a social media post.

“Given it was a civil trial, there is of course, no way a conviction could have occurred so we just wanted to correct that for the record.”

Thorpe also made the same inaccurate comment about Hanson on Nine’s Today program, which Hanson has vowed to address.