The opposition Senate leader has flagged the possibility of new penalties for senators who engage in “disorderly conduct” beyond the chamber itself, after independent senator Lidia Thorpe’s shouted protest at a parliamentary reception for King Charles III and Queen Camilla.
Simon Birmingham suggests parliamentary censure is an insufficient response to deter future protests and that new measures could be required. A civil disobedience expert, however, has raised questions as to whether such further measures were necessary or “appropriate”.
