Maude Nificent<p><a href="https://aus.social/tags/auspol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>auspol</span></a> <a href="https://aus.social/tags/parliament" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>parliament</span></a> <a href="https://aus.social/tags/tradition" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>tradition</span></a> excerpts from news dot com report</p><p>“Earlier on Tuesday, Mr Katter also ditched tradition by refusing to swear allegiance to King Charles, his heirs and successors, stating his allegiance was to the “Australian people”.</p><p>While the objection didn’t disrupt formalities it did echo actions by independent senator Lidia Thorpe who claimed she pledged allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II’s “hairs” on not “heirs” when she was sworn into parliament in 2022.</p><p>MPs and senators are supposed to say: “I do,” when asked to pledge faith and allegiance to King Charles III, however, the Kennedy MP said: “No, I swear allegiance to the Australian people”.</p><p>Mr Katter has previously been critical of the monarchy and said Australian coins should feature Australian heroes instead of images of King Charles III.</p><p>One nation stages silent protest</p><p>One Nation’s increased Senate presence of four members also staged a silent protest during the Welcome to Country acknowledgements. Party leader Pauline Hanson, Malcolm Roberts and new additions, Western Australian senator Tyron Whitten and NSW senator Warwick Stacey, turned their backs away from the chamber during the acknowledgement.</p><p>The protest lasted for about five seconds and did not appear to interrupt proceedings.</p><p>———</p><p>the prayers tradition continues…</p><p><a href="https://peo.gov.au/understand-our-parliament/your-questions-on-notice/questions/why-is-the-lords-prayer-read-at-the-beginning-of-each-day-in-the-house-of-representatives-and-senate-if-australia-is-a-secular-nation" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">peo.gov.au/understand-our-parl</span><span class="invisible">iament/your-questions-on-notice/questions/why-is-the-lords-prayer-read-at-the-beginning-of-each-day-in-the-house-of-representatives-and-senate-if-australia-is-a-secular-nation</span></a></p>