United Australia Senator Ralph Babet has been censured by the federal Senate with the backing of both major parties following a social media post containing “racist and homophobic slurs.”
The censure motion moved by Labor Senator Penny Wong passed on Nov. 18, with 46 senators supporting it and 12 opposing—Senators Babet and Lidia Thorpe were not present.
The Leader of the Government in the Senate, Wong, criticised the behaviour of both upper house members, stating it reflected a pattern of attention seeking without meaningful solutions.
“We all know both senators are engaging in these behaviours precisely in order to get attention, engaging in actions and stunts designed to create storms in social media, but offering nothing of substance to improve anyone’s life,” Wong said.
“And in Senator Babet’s case, deliberate abuse of some of our fellow Australians,” Wong remarked.
Senator Babet represents Victoria as the sole winning candidate of the United Australia Party (UAP) in 2022, backed by $100 million from mining magnate Clive Palmer.
Last week, Babet shared a post from social media personality Andrew Tate on X. Above the video Babet wrote: “My [expletive] nailed this one. One hundred percent [sic].”
Underneath the post, Babet wrote: “In my house we say [expletive], [expletive], and [expletive]. We are sick of you woke ass clowns. Cry more. Write an article. Tweet about me. No one cares what you think.”
Both posts have been collectively viewed more than 4.9 million times and received 3,200 reposts.
In response to the censure, Babet further posted, “Australians will soon be put in prison for words that the authoritarian left deem to be offensive.”
