Earlier this week, Independent Senator Fatima Payman accused One Nation Senator Pauline Hanson of racism.
On Wednesday morning, One Nation Senator Pauline Hanson attempted to table documents in the Senate relating to Independent Senator Fatima Payman.
These documents questioned Payman’s eligibility to sit in the Senate because of her dual citizenship.
Under Section 44 of Australia’s Constitution, foreign citizens and dual citizens cannot sit in Parliament.
That means that if you were born in the UK and moved to Australia to live, you will be required to renounce your UK citizenship in order to run for Federal Parliament.
In 2017, dozens of parliamentarians were forced to resign from their jobs due to being dual citizens.
This included Barnaby Joyce, Jacqui Lambie and Katy Gallagher — all of whom have since renounced their dual citizenship and successfully been re-elected.
Fatima Payman
Fatima Payman is an Independent Senator who resigned from the Labor Party earlier this year over its stance on Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.
Last month, Payman announced she was launching a new party called Australia’s Voice.
On the same day that Payman launched her new party, fellow Senator Pauline Hanson wrote a letter to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese requesting he consider an “urgent matter” in regards to Payman’s eligibility to sit in Parliament.
Payman was born in Afghanistan, came to Australia in 2003 and was later granted Australian citizenship.
When she ran for Parliament at the 2022 election, Payman said she had approached the Afghan embassy in Australia in 2021 to renounce her citizenship.
She said her request wasn’t finalised because Australia’s embassy couldn’t contact the Government after the Taliban took power.
At the time, Payman was understood to have taken “all reasonable steps” to renounce her citizenship.
New developments
On Wednesday, Hanson said that she wanted the matter of Payman’s citizenship to be referred to a Parliamentary Committee.
In response, Payman accused Hanson of being racist. She said: “I kept on giving you the benefit of the doubt. Senator Hanson, despite your repetitive attempts to be racist to anyone who does not look like you.”
She added: “You’re not just vindictive, mean, nasty. You bring disgrace to the human race.”
Lidia Thorpe
While Hanson was attempting to table the documents in Parliament, another Independent Senator, Lidia Thorpe, intervened.
Thorpe tore up a copy of Hanson’s documents and threw them at her, before exiting the chamber and giving Parliament the middle finger as she left.
She was suspended from Parliament for the duration of Thursday, the last day of the sitting year. Today, Thorpe said: “I wear those disciplinary colonial actions like a badge of honour.”
