AFP Investigates Metaphors, Ignores Actual Bombs
Senator Lidia Thorpe's 'metaphorical' statement about Australian Parliament House is sparking an AFP investigation, according to The Guardian. Meanwhile, the Australian government, which houses said Parliament, just approved a staggering 34.5 billion AUD (approximately 23 billion USD) in additional military aid to Israel, funding weapons used to literally burn down homes and lives in Gaza. The
'mock outrage' Thorpe speaks of appears selective—a call to burn a building is investigated, but funding actual bombardments raises no such alarm. It seems the threshold for 'breaching legislation' pivots on *whose* parliament, and *whose* homes, are being metaphorically or literally threatened. One might wonder if the AFP has open investigations into the ethical funding of actual violence, or if
only rhetorical provocations disrupt the peace. Senator Thorpe's statement, while inflammatory, was about making a point; Australia's continued military support for Israel makes a far more deadly one.