The Australian federal police has said it is investigating whether independent senator Lidia Thorpe’s claim to a pro-Palestinian rally in Melbourne that she would “burn down” Parliament House has breached legislation.
Thorpe told the rally on Sunday: “We stand with you every day, and we will fight every day, and we will turn up every day, and if I have to burn down Parliament House to make a point … I am not there to make friends.”
On Monday, she said she had not meant the words literally and condemned what she called the “mock outrage” that followed them.
“My rally remarks were clearly a figure of speech – a metaphor for the pain in our communities and the urgent need to end genocide in Palestine and everywhere,” she said.
“They were obviously not a literal threat. This mock outrage is ridiculous. While people are dying and starving in Gaza, politicians and media are once again clutching their pearls and chasing a scandal instead of focusing on what really matters. This is just another political game designed to distract from the real issues.
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“I have always rejected violence. Any suggestion otherwise misrepresents my long‑standing commitment to pursuing justice and self-determination for First Peoples and all oppressed peoples through peaceful, democratic means.”
A spokesperson for the AFP said its National Security Investigations team in Victoria began investigating the comments “almost immediately”.
“This will be done methodically …. Noting the public commentary and concern, the AFP is seeking to reassure the community that this issue is being appropriately considered and undertaken in a timely manner,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
The spokesperson declined to provide further details, and said it is “not the usual practice of the AFP to provide a running commentary”.
Thorpe’s comments were condemned by politicians on Monday, who called the remarks “disgraceful” and “irresponsible”.
Government frontbencher Tanya Plibersek said she wouldn’t give Thorpe more attention, and that any parliamentary action against the Victorian senator would be considered “down the track”.
“What Lidia Thorpe has said is absolutely irresponsible. We just don’t want to give it extra airtime,” Plibersek said.
The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, told ABC radio now was the time for “turning the temperature down”.
“The concept of wanting to inflame, push the temperature up, is not what anyone should be doing, least of all a member of parliament. I’m not going to respond to that by increasing the heat in the opposite direction,” he said.
Liberal senator Maria Kovacic told Sky News that Thorpe “should consider whether she is right to be sitting in our parliament”.
“They’re disgraceful comments. Nobody should be threatening to burn down Australian Parliament House, no less should an Australian senator be threatening to burn down our Parliament House,” she said.
Thorpe has been censured previously by the Senate, after heckling King Charles during his visit to Parliament House in November.
As King Charles finished a speech on his inaugural visit as monarch, Thorpe approached the stage, yelling “this is not your country”.
