Liberal Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has accused the Greens of not loving Australia "the way I do" during a heated Senate debate.
Speaking while draped in the Australian flag on on Flag Day— marking 124 years since it was first flown — Senator Price was challenged by Greens Senator Nick McKim, who asked the deputy Senate President to rule the flag was a prop.
In recent months, flags, including those of Israel and Palestine, have been ruled out of order in the chamber.
Senator McKim argued that if Senator Price could "wrap herself in this flag, I would intend to wrap myself in a Palestinian flag and come into the chamber and exercise the same rights that Senator Nampijinpa-Price is currently exercising".
The exchange drew a sharp response from the newly appointed Shadow Minister for Defence Industry and Defence Personnel.
After being asked to remove the flag, Senator Price told Senator McKim: "Snark all you like. It's revolting. You don't love this country the way I do, certainly not like most Australians do."
She then accused the Greens of rallying alongside a terrorist organisation — seemingly referring to last month's Sydney Harbour Bridge march — and claimed Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi had called for a "genocide in this country against those that support Israel". Following a back-and-forth, Senator Price withdrew the remark.
During further yelling across the chamber, Senator Price was heard to call out: "Why don't you acknowledge and pay your respects? I'm an Indigenous person?"
Resuming her speech, she added: "The Greens certainly don't respect or acknowledge Indigenous Australians in this Senate."
Senator Price also criticised Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for standing in front of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags alongside the Australian flag. While acknowledging they are "proclaimed flags", she argued they are not "national flags".
"Our national flag isn't even afforded the respect it deserves by the Prime Minister," she said. "We have one national flag, just like almost every sovereign nation; the Prime Minister's decision to stand in front of three flags isn't an act of respect. It's an act of disrespect."
Her comments echoed those of former Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, who was widely criticised by Aboriginal leaders for saying he would not stand in front of Indigenous flags if elected Prime Minister. The Coalition's landslide election defeat in May, which also saw Mr Dutton lose his seat, has been seen by many as a repudiation of the culture war attacks against First Peoples.
The Aboriginal flag was desecrated during the neo-Nazi attack on Camp Sovereignty in Naarm on Sunday, an incident that sparked widespread condemnation.
Senator Price also used her speech to defend the Australian flag, pointing to the significance of the Southern Cross in Indigenous traditions.
"My Elders from a tiny community near Tenant Creek have spoken about how the Southern Cross is part of dreaming," she told the Senate.
"So, contrary to the views of activists, Indigenous Australians certainly are represented by our national flag."
