The event in which senator Lidia Thorpe was knocked to the ground while opposing a rally against transgender rights, presumably by an Australian federal police officer, was “disturbing and troubling,” according to the minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney.
Thorpe was tackled to the ground on Thursday in front of the Australian Parliament Building in Canberra as she rushed to the podium where anti-trans campaigner Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull was speaking to a small group of supporters.
Thorpe complained about the Australian federal police’s treatment of her in comments to media, stating that it amounted to assault.
She told ABC Radio that the AFP professional standards unit had been informed of the event and would decide what to do next.
“My main concern was and still is Lidia. I hope she’s receiving the assistance she needs. It is very reasonable that it has been sent to the professional standards unit.
Burney said, “I have no idea,” when asked if a white male senator may have received different treatment. He said, “The real concern is to ensure her well-being; her welfare is Alright.”
In addition, an incident has been reported to the AFP’s professional standards headquarters. “The exchanges between the AFP and protestors will be evaluated,” it stated.
No more remarks will be made, given that the subject is still being investigated.
One Nation’s Pauline Hanson, Malcolm Roberts, Ralph Babet, and the United Australia party’s Ralph Babet were among the 30 supporters that showed up for the rally led by Keen-Minshull, also known as Posie Parker, who is also known as Keen-Minshull.
In Canberra, none of the Coalition lawmakers who have supported Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming, who risks expulsion for attending Keen-rally Minshull’s in Melbourne, were present.
Neo-Nazi attendees at that protest were criticized by Deeming, who denied any misconduct and referred to them as gatecrashers.
Sen. Claire Chandler of the Liberal Party wrote on Facebook that she had planned to go to the Canberra Let Women Speak event “to attract attention to what these women are saying,” but she had changed her mind.
Instead, she said that “those there to disrupt” or “to hijack the occasion and the media coverage for their own repulsive goals” took up all of the attention, making an apparent allusion to the protesters in Melbourne who offered the Nazi salute.
“There is no guarantee that ladies will be safe attending the Thursday event.”
