What Linda Thorpe’s Gammin T-Shirt Means
Lidia Thorpe has been berated for wearing a T-shirt in parliament with an Indigenous slogan for making a point about the Aboriginal Voice to Parliament.
When the Senate heard the final reading of Anthony Albanese’s constitutional amendment bill — which paves the way for the referendum later this year — the native senator wore a white shirt with the word “Gammin” printed on the front.
The word is native slang for “fake” or “fraudulent rubbish.”
“That’s what I think an impotent voice is for this place. Gamin. Fake, pretend, joke,” she said in a far-reaching statement criticizing the king, white supremacists and her colleagues.
Ms Thorpe said she has ‘infiltrated’ parliament with a plan to ‘rattle the cages to destroy the white supremacy represented here’.
The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 52 to 19. Ms. Thorpe sat next to One Nation’s Pauline Hanson, the Nationals and a handful of Liberals to vote no.
Her vote was in protest against the “symbolic advisory body” proposed by the government. As senators who voted yes celebrated, Ms. Thorpe shouted “Happy Assimilation Day everyone.”
Until now Ms Thorpe had publicly considered abstaining and urged the government to make changes to bring about ‘real change’.
The Victorian Senator wore a white T-shirt with the word ‘Gammin’ printed on the front, which translates to ‘fake’
She is primarily campaigning for a treaty and does not want the focus to be on the constitution, which she described as an ‘illegal document’.
“It’s illegal,” she said several times. The occupation was illegal. You follow the king. The king? The king’s position is to exterminate us.
“We’re a problem, we’re definitely a problem for this mob,” she said, looking around the Senate chamber. “We’re just a problem that needs to be solved all the time.”
In a fiery speech at the final reading of the constitutional amendment bill on Monday, Ms Thorpe said she was ‘ashamed’ of pushing for a vote in parliament.
“Poor little black dudes beg for a seat at the table and all we get is to become consultants. No power,’ she said.
We beg like paupers to accede to a white, racist, colonial constitution designed to deny everything we are. To destroy everything as quickly as possible… to dispossess us.
“There isn’t one law in this country that has ever been good for us, not one. And now we are asked to accept an impotent voice.’
Ms Thorpe went on to berate Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who had been campaigning for constitutional recognition before his election.
Ms. Thorpe will vote ‘no’ in protest against the ‘symbolic advisory body’ that the government has proposed and tells the senate: ‘Happy assimilation day everyone.’
Ms Thorpe went on to berate Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who had been campaigning for constitutional recognition before his election.
Mr Albanese has identified the Voice to Parliament as a hallmark of his leadership, pledging from election night to hold a referendum for the people of Australia.
Australians will be asked to vote in a referendum later this year, probably in October.
But Mrs. Thorpe said ‘Albo has no guts’ and ‘has not the courage to come out and say he wants a treaty’.
“I hope The Voice is going to tell Parliament to stop killing our people, to stop the suicides, to assimilate us into their system.
“You’re all Gammin, fake, not real. You wave your flag, wear your deadly black earrings and feel good about it.”
The Senate just voted on the bill, which passed by an absolute majority of 52 to 19.
“You’re all Gammin, fake, not real. You wave your flag, wear your deadly black earrings and feel good about it,’ Mrs Thorpe said
In a fiery speech at the final reading of the constitutional amendment bill on Monday, Ms Thorpe said she was ‘ashamed’ of pushing for a vote in parliament
Lidia Thorpe denounced ‘white supremacy’ in parliament
Only those who vote ‘no’ will be allowed to work on the official essay which will be included in an official referendum pamphlet which will be sent to every Australian home at least two weeks before the vote.
The pamphlet contains two essays of up to 2000 words advocating the arguments for and against the Voice to Parliament.
Labour’s message is that a voice ‘from the heart’ gives Indigenous Australians an equal footing and an opportunity to provide input on issues that directly affect their lives.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has long said it is a ‘modest’ request from the Australian public, noting that he feels a personal responsibility to fulfill his pledge to the Indigenous communities who have ‘waited so long’.
The Voice to Parliament “will be a permanent body to protest to the Australian Parliament and the Executive Government about legislation and policies of concern to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples,” the government says.
“It will promote the self-determination of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples by giving them more say in matters that affect them.”