Lidia Thorpe Was Booted From Parliament Over A “Black Lives Don’t Matter In Beetaloo” Shirt

Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe was kicked out of Parliament on Monday afternoon for a dress code violation after wearing a “Black Lives Don’t Matter In Beetaloo” shirt in protest of the fracking in the NT’s Beetaloo Basin.

In Parliament yesterday, the Greens were fighting to disallow a whopping $50 million worth of federal grants from funding fracking in the Beetaloo Basin — which threatens sacred Indigenous sites and waterways in the region. However, the motion was quickly shut down by the Coalition and the Labor party.

During her speech on Monday, Thorpe read out a statement from Traditional Owners, who expressed their objection to the plan, with the Senator stressing that this alone should be enough of a reason not to proceed.

“That should be enough for [us] to do the right thing. Especially those who say Black Lives Matter like Labor, and ‘I love my dot paintings’ says the Libs. Like seriously, if you really, really care, you’ll listen to the Traditional Owners of the Northern Territory who don’t want their Country fracked,” she said. “What’s the point of an opposition that doesn’t oppose?”

Blak lives don't matter in the Beetaloo. Today we tried to stop public money being used to frack and destroy the Beetaloo, like Traditional Owners asked us to. The Government voted it down and most of the Labor party didn't even turn up to vote. Shameful! pic.twitter.com/XWJms5NF1b

— Senator Lidia Thorpe (@SenatorThorpe) November 29, 2021

Following her speech, she removed her scarf to reveal the t-shirt, which violates the Parliamentary dress code prohibiting shirts with slogans on them.

Thorpe was immediately told to remove herself from the chamber for violating the strict dress code.

“Black lives apparently don’t matter in the Beetaloo,” Thorpe wrote in a statement provided to Junkee following her speech. “They matter when Labor wants to be in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement on social media. They matter when the Liberals want to hang dot paintings in their offices. But they don’t matter when Traditional Owners don’t consent to fracking on Country. Black lives don’t matter when the government wants to frack Country.

“Our people have the solutions to the climate crisis. We have the solutions to economic recovery. Let us lead climate action and respect the sovereignty of the oldest continuing culture in the world.”

Ultimately, the motion has fallen through and the Federal Government will continue to fund fracking in the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Basin, despite clear objections from Traditional Owners of the land.