Moment Liberal speaker booed for making land acknowledgment at party conference – after bizarre hazmat suit protest interrupted event
Deep-seated anger within the Liberal Party after the Voice referendum spilled over into a conference where guests booed a member’s Country Recognition.
Liberal New South Wales state executive Michelle Bishop stood outside the Liberal Party’s A New Hope conference in Sydney on Saturday and shakily delivered the first part of her recognition.
“I just wanted to acknowledge that we are on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation,” she said.
Her speech was then interrupted by cheers from the crowd, but she continued: ‘- and recognize our traditional owners.’
About 600 Liberal members attended the conference at the Fullerton Hotel, but the party blamed the disturbing response on a “small group” of attendees.
Michelle Bishop (above) was booed during a land acknowledgment on Saturday
The boos were the second unfortunate accident of the evening, with protesters in hazmat suits previously storming the event.
Members and supporters of the Liberal Party watched as a group of men entered the lobby of the Sydney conference claiming to be Mr Dutton.
A video uploaded to the South Coast Labor Council’s Facebook page showed two men dressed in white full-body suits with radiation hazard symbols and signs reading ‘Dutton MP for Fukushima’ and ‘Nukes ‘R’ Us’.
“We have a special announcement from the Leader of the Opposition, Member for Fukushima, Peter Dutton,” one protester said of the disruption.
Ms Bishop (above) completed her land acknowledgment to cheers at the Liberal Party conference in Sydney
Disgruntled members could be heard off camera shouting ‘p*** off’ at the group of men as they continued their performance.
“I’m sorry we didn’t support Save the Whales sooner, but we’re going to save the whales from those pesky wind farms below,” said a protester posing as Mr Dutton.
The men spent several minutes voicing their support for nuclear power and opposition to a ceasefire in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict before being escorted out of the conference chanting “Nukes ‘R’ Us, Nukes ‘R’ Us ‘ chanted.’
After the protest, Mr Dutton took to the stage to outline his plan to “start a conversation” about nuclear power in Australia.
He said most Australians did not understand the basics of nuclear energy, which he argued Australia could benefit greatly from if implemented correctly.
The conference was stormed by demonstrators in hazmat suits (above) against a proposed nuclear power plant on the south coast
“Most people were influenced by the events at Chernobyl and elsewhere, some people in the survey were influenced by The Simpsons,” the opposition leader said.
“If you’ve seen The Simpsons, some of the investigative work showed that people didn’t want a Springfield to show up in their backyard.”
Mr Dutton was critical of the government’s recent energy plans, saying Australian taxpayers will be “left on the hook for years” due to mismanagement.