Larissa Waters says it is a disgrace that the government and opposition is seeking to censure Mehreen Faruqi for a “peaceful protest” while ignoring what is happening in Gaza and refusing to actually act.

Waters:

What they shouldn’t be doing is disciplining anyone who dares to speak out, who dares to speak the truth, either in this place or anywhere, and the very idea that we’re discussing disciplining Senator Faruqi for holding up a piece of paper raising attention to the plight of those starving in Gaza, whilst completely ignoring the fact that One Nation senators turned their backs on the Welcome to Country only proves how out of touch with ordinary people this place is so I want to acknowledge everyone who is being honest about the genocide in Gaza, including the staunch and courageous Senator Faruqi, and I want to acknowledge everyone who’s calling on this government to do more.

And I want to salute the hearts of all those people who’ve been out the front of the building these last few days demanding action from our government. And I want to recognise the academics, the students, the journalists, the artists who have refused to remain silent despite the great person. personal cost that it has taken the Greens will not be silent.

Labor senator Katy Gallagher says it is “about the rules”

If I could just follow up on a couple of things that the leader of the Greens says, in particular her concern that this is about us trying to control or not allowing someone to who wants to dare to speak.

I mean, that is absolutely not what this is about. And I think Senator Faruqi has so many opportunities to speak, as every other senator does, to raise issues, but everyone else to the largest part possible does it in accordance with the standing orders and the rules of this place. And if we had to pretend that they don’t matter and they don’t exist anymore, nobody would ever have an opportunity to have a right to say anything in this place.

That is the rules that we all sign up for when we come into this place. Obviously Senator Faruqi feels that she is exempt from those rules.

But the rules allow all participate as senators in this chamber. That’s why they are important, and that’s why I think on the first day of the 48th parliament, the fact that the Opening of Parliament, where we had the Governor General, Her Excellency in the chair, the Chief Justice, and others in this chamber, to recognise, you know, that most important day in our democratic system, to represent the will of the Australian people through our formal processes, to have that used as an opportunity to be disorderly, I think disappointed everybody because of the importance of that day. Senator Faruqi has and will no doubt continue to make her points, as she’s able to do as a senator but in this case, but what happened yesterday was disorderly, and there has to be consequence for that, or there are no point to our standing orders at all.