Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Ordinarily at this point I would move a motion to suspend a senator, as provided for under standing order 203(3). That would have the effect of the senator being suspended for the remainder of the sitting day. Given the gravity of the conduct with which we are dealing and given the time, I instead ask the leave of the Senate to move that the senator be suspended from the Senate until the end of the sitting tomorrow.

Leave granted.

I move:

That Senator Thorpe be suspended from the sittings of the Senate until the end of sitting on 28 November 2024.

I will make some brief remarks. All Australians have a right to be safe at work, whether it's working in retail, hospitality or hospitals or whether they're our parliamentary staff, our chamber staff or us senators in this place. We all know that the standards in this place need to be lifted. Successive governments in this parliament have taken action to implement all 28 recommendations of the Set the standard report. We established the PWSS, and we followed with the establishment of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission. We've also endorsed behaviour standards and codes of conduct that apply to us. We've amended legislation to clarify work health and safety arrangements in the Commonwealth parliaments, and we've reviewed the parliamentary sitting calendar and routine of business in light of the recommendations from Set the standard. In doing this, we as a government—and I think we as a parliament—have sought to make this workplace safer and more respectful for all.

Too frequently, President, as you and the Deputy President have outlined, debate in this place has turned to aggression and to hateful and personal attacks. There have been dozens of instances, including multiple instances of Senator Thorpe making inappropriate, sometimes abusive, comments towards other senators and then disrupting proceedings by refusing to withdraw. Despite attempts to work with Senator Thorpe, she's increasingly engaged in such behaviour in this Senate. This fortnight alone, the senator has been censured by the Senate, sworn in the chamber, repeatedly made offensive gestures when leaving the chamber and made comments resulting in First Nations senators from across this chamber feeling culturally unsafe.

All of that was prior to today's incident, which culminated in Senator Thorpe tearing up papers and throwing them at another senator on the Senate floor. This behaviour would not be tolerated in any workplace, and we cannot tolerate it in our workplace. We all have a responsibility for our behaviour, whether in this place or contributing to public debate. We are all elected to represent Australians and their interests, and we come together in a contest of ideas. We express our views respectfully to understand each other's perspectives and those of our electors and, ultimately, to reach a majority view about the best path forward. Ultimately, we should be working to advance the interests of all Australians. When we work together, this place demonstrates the best of our great nation, but that work requires respect for each other and for this institution. Part of that are the rules that operate in this place so that it functions in the interests of all Australians. When the foundations of that respect are undermined, we all suffer. I move:

That the question be now put.