Theophanous condemns attacks on Australian democracy symbols

Kat Theophanous is the Victorian state member for Northcote. Photo: Supplied

7 January 2022 4:49pm

The Victoria state member for Northcote, Kat Theophanous has lashed out at anti-vaxxing and sovereign citizen protesters who set fire to the door of the Old Parliament House in Canberra on 30 December and Greens Victoria senator Lidia Thorpe for expressing support for their actions.

“What was alarming was that a Greens Senator should be seen to endorsing this. No elected leader should be condoning vandalism,” Ms Theophanous told Neos Kosmos this week.

Following the incident, Ms Thorpe said on Twitter: “Seems like the colonial system is burning down. Happy New Year everyone.”

The comments drew heavy criticism from fellow politicians, including Ms Theophanous.

“We are at a crucial point in our history and this is very close to home. In a democratic society we can have a diversity of opinion but when it tips into violence and damage to property, we should not be condoning this,” said Ms Theophanous.

She said that there was a growing and worrying trend that extreme elements of the far right were infiltrating what started out as a legitimate debate on policy but was often hijacked to become something more dangerous.

She said that these were trends that were noticed first in the United States and were becoming increasingly common in Australia. She said that these extremist groups were infiltrating Australian organisations and were focusing through social media outlets on the vulnerable in society.

“With social media far-right groups are able to reach into people’s homes. I saw these groups in action when they ran riot in Northcote – families that which picnicking at All Nations Park had to flee in fear for their children and the shops had to be shut down in Northcote Plaza,” she said recalling events in September, last year.

“I saw it frighten my own community and I don’t want it to happen again.”

Ms Theophanous said the recent attack on the Old Parliament House was an attack on the democratic symbols of Australia and criticized Ms Thorpe’s making light of the incident that led to the arrest of two men.

“The ideological goal of these organisations is to disrupt Australian democracy. We need to educate the community to be aware and recognise the actions of these groups. We can all agree that there are a diversity of views on the pandemic and how it is managed.”