"Most loathed woman in parliament": Karl Stefanovic grills Lidia Thorpe
Karl Stefanovic has labelled Lidia Thorpe as “the most loathed woman in parliament” during a fiery interview on the Today show.
The Today host interviewed the politician on Thursday morning, noting that her decision to heckle King Charles was not winning her much support.
“Lidia, good morning to you. Nice to see you. I think it’s fair to say you might very well be the most loathed woman in parliament in Canberra at the moment. And that’s really saying something,’’ Stefanovic said.
However, the Senator had no regrets and said that she was used to being "the black sheep" of politics.
“Oh, well, it’s just another day in the colony, Karl. I’m used to that treatment,” she said.
“You know. I am the black sheep of the family, if you like. But I wanted to send a message to the King. I got that message across. The whole world is talking about it.
“And my people are happy because my people have been protesting for decades and decades. As you all know, for exactly this. And so the message has been sent, delivered. Now it’s up to the King of England to respond.”
Stefanovic then asked her: “The question this morning you were being asked is, why the hell doesn’t Lidia Thorpe just do everyone a favour and get out of Canberra? Will you?”
To which she replied: “I’m about truth telling. I’m loud, proud, black. Get used to it and listen to what I have to say.
“We need to grow up as a nation and get rid of him and have our own head of state.”
The broadcaster then showed a video of her swearing allegiance to the late Queen Elizabeth.
“Did that hurt a little when you swore your allegiance? Did it take a little bit of your soul?’’ Stefanovic asked.
“Absolutely it did. And I had to go through a process with my family prior to doing that, because swearing allegiance to someone else from another country whose ancestors have done a lot of damage to my ancestors, I think is completely inappropriate,” she replied.
This comes after Thorpe's pledge to Queen Elizabeth's "hairs" instead of "heir" came to light.
“We don’t need to be paying the Governor-General $800,000 a year to sign a piece of legislation. And we paid for that man to come here. How many millions of dollars did that cost?” she continued.
Karl hit back saying that Thorpe herself is “getting paid pretty well to be part of the process and to be part of parliament, a place you clearly despise.”
She replied: “Yeah. I’m being paid to do my job. You could say it’s paying the rent if you like."
“This government has walked back a treaty. I know the opposition is not interested in treaty. So where else do you go? You go to the King of England. Who? Whose ancestors treated with other countries but didn’t treaty here. So there’s unfinished business. I’ll spend the next three years getting that unfinished business done.”
Images: Nine