Bridget McKenzie blasts pro-Palestine protesters who ‘stormed Parliament’

Bridget McKenzie the national Senate leader is with me what what do you make of the events we've seen in camera this morning I think it's just continuation of the division that's um visiting our society um we've seen weak leadership by the Prime Minister not just on the issues of Israel um you know highlighted and exacerbated with Senator payman obviously but you know as earli as last year on The Voice dividing Australians along you know indigenous versus is non indigenous uh the Palestinian War issue uh Israel versus Gaza stret is that a stretch bring out the voice on a day when no it's about division but it's about division Kieran we've had people just storm Parliament right the basting of freedom and democracy in this country um you know breaching our security Arrangements here around an issue that is causing a level of social discohesion right across our country particularly uh in Western Sydney and and it's being exacerbated I think by the week leadership of the Prime Minister and that isn't just evidenced in this week's events it's evid over his entire prime minister he's been critical of uh thing the protests at electoral offices at the war memorial scathing of some of the behavior there and the greens for not condemning it he did condemn it as the government and he's been permissive in his language all the way through so whilst he may eventually get to the point of calling it out he leaves he never makes the decisive decision in that moment he leaves it for a period of time he has labor MPS on both sides making public comments of both all of these types of issues and so the the community is very um I think unsure about where the Prime Minister sits and and in times strong leadership he he condemned the desecration at the war memorial though that was very and meanwhile and on electorate officers and the protest that overstepped the Mark he's been really critical but that's after there's been anti-semitic after anti-semitic um actions in our communities across the country he finally gets to the point of calling it out when it's against his own MPS and their electorate officers because it has actually as as we're looking these I just want to just repeat because these are the images live Into The Newsroom now of of the police um and they've obviously done this in a in a safe way they've got them themselves cabled to the uh the building which is which is probably what you should be doing at 20 M High whereas those protesters were simply walking along that platform there on the top of the the pillars but they're going there now to remove that last Banner which says war crimes enabled here which which those individuals left uh as their their parting gift and as they retreated but it's um it is in after many years of multi-million dollar upgrades in this place that that happened that's a worry isn't it well I think it shows that the the upgrades are aren't ever going to stop people that are determined um to break in and desecrate right um they're very committed to the cause uh and they're prepared to risk life limb and breaches of our legal system in order to make their point and I think that's the disappointing uh part I think the permissive behavior of the Prime Minister uh on this issue and on others has meant that we've got a a level of um acrimony right throughout our community that I haven't seen in a long time and you need to have strong leadership uh from the top and we're not seeing that and that last Banner now being pulled in thankfully that protests being resolved and uh without anyone risking their safety police being able to do that in a in a safe way and getting rid of that um as we've seen school kids still arriving here for excursions and their their day at Parliament but uh having said that there was a breach as you said people can can circumvent the security but surely that's got to be toughened so that people can't simply jump that I think one of the great things of the Australian Parliament House when we um finished it I think it was back in the ' 80s uh was that it was going to be the people's house and people should have free and easy access to their Dem uh their Democratic processes I've been uh critic of the increased security over my time here because I do believe that if someone is so determined they will find a way to make their point and I think today today proves that um we are one of the great Multicultural democracies in the world uh nearly half of Australians um have parents born overseas these people have come to our Shores uh wanting to be Australian and that means you need to share our values and they are adherence to rule of law and and the principles of freedom and I'm concerned and no one's stopping protests people people are saying do your protest go for abely but when it's desecration of the war memorial or breaching security at Parliament that is a step too far absolutely so there's a difference between wanting to come to Australia to live and wanting to be an Australian and I think we're seeing an erosion of wanting to be what an Australian is because that is about commitment to freedom and the rule of law and and this but these individuals some of those they they didn't look like there were new migrants by any stretch of the imagin well I'm not going to make a judgment on that but we are bought listening to that that gentleman's rant he didn't sound like he was and he wasn't just Kieran the rant wasn't just um you know quarterized to the Gaza War it was actually going to issues of indigenous um matters and the voice and the like so the division that's coming in she mentioned started yeah but but that's what I'm saying there are issues that are now dividing our country um and I think that c requires very very strong leadership that they're not getting thanks for your time