NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has blasted Senator Lidia Thorpe after she lay on the road in front of a float as a protest that brought the Sydney Mardi Gras parade to a halt.
Senator Thorpe was removed from the parade by police – at the request of Mardi Gras organisers – after Saturday night’s display.
In videos shared widely on social media, she can be seen standing before an Australian Federal Police officer on Oxford Street, with her arms spread wide, before lying on the ground in front of the float.
After a brief conversation with officers, Senator Thorpe was pulled to her feet and removed from the road, as the crowd began to boo.
“Get rid of her! Get rid of her,” a person in the crowd can be heard chanting during the incident.
The Victorian senator can then be seen getting to her feet and appearing to argue with police and Mardi Gras crew before she is escorted from the street.
Police have said they will not charge her.
On Monday, Mr Perrottet labelled the protest “a disgrace”.
“It’s just typical Lidia Thorpe. It’s a disgrace,” he told Sydney 2GB host Ben Fordham.
“As a society, we need to respect different views and not just tolerate it, but celebrate different perspectives. [But] what we see from Lidia Thorpe and the Greens is this negativity, and worse than that, this divisive nature of their politics.”
Fordham, who has also criticised Senator Thorpe’s actions, asked if Mr Perrottet was “surprised” she wasn’t taken into custody.
“That’s not a matter for me, that’s a matter for the police,” he said.
Senator Thorpe’s only public comment since the protest so far is via Twitter. She wrote on Sunday that she was “proud” of her actions.
Tweet from @SenatorThorpe
NSW Police said a woman had temporarily blocked the progress of the parade after lying on Oxford Street in front of a float about 9pm on Saturday.
“She was later removed from the parade at the request of organisers for breaching the terms of her participation,” a spokesperson said.
A spokesman for Sydney Mardi Gras confirmed the parade had been interrupted by Senator Thorpe as she attempted to stage a protest.
“While we respect the individual’s right to protest, interrupting the parade in this way has significant implications for the safety of our participants and audience,” the spokesman said.
Nationals leader David Littleproud said it was sad Senator Thorpe decided to “make a scene” with her protest.
“This wasn’t about her last night. It should be about the fact that we have moved as a society and we should make sure that there isn’t discrimination against LGBTQI people in our society,” he told Nine’s Today program.
Earlier this month, Senator Thorpe quit the Greens for the cross bench over the party’s support for the Indigenous voice to parliament instead of prioritising a treaty with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.
-with AAP
