Indigenous leader Warren Mundine says Senator Lidia Thorpe’s comments in a now-deleted Tweet on the fire at Old Parliament House yesterday were “a disgrace”. 

Protestors yesterday set fire to the front of Old Parliament House in Canberra for the second time this week amid reported chants of “let it burn”.

It lead Ms Thorpe to write in a retweet of a video of the fire:

“Seems like the colonial system is burning down. Happy New Year everyone. #AlwayswasAlwayswillBeAboriginalLand”

Mr Mundine told Mark Levy it was a “dreadful comment” and “a disgrace to put out there”.

“I just wish before she does anything, [she] just stop for a few seconds and think about it,” he said.

“She’s in that colonial system, she’s in that building.

“She could be a great contributor to Parliament, but at the moment, she’s nothing.”

Press PLAY below to hear the full interview 

This building is a sacred site for all Australians. This is the building were the wrongs of the past were corrected. Aboriginals got full voting rights 1962, the 1967 Referendum, Land Rights, where Senator Bonner worked, And these fools trashed it. Learn your history & respect it pic.twitter.com/tiBLgq1Xqj

— Nyunggai Warren Mundine AO (@nyunggai) December 30, 2021

Image: Nine News