"Since then, I have received a large number of unpleasant, abusive and threatening messages and phone calls," said Senator Lambie. “I give my phone number to veterans whose mental health is not so good and they are on the last straw.
“These veterans know that they can call me at any time of the day or night if they need someone to listen to them.
“If you have someone's number, it is not difficult to find the personal data that is linked to it. I will have to change my number because I need to make sure my family and friends are safe. "
Senator Lambie's old number is now inaccessible, but examples of the abuse she has received on other channels contained vicious and wildly offensive references to her son's battle with methamphetamine use, as well as personal insults.
"F --- ED y'all esp --- ics ... Lambie is an uneducated bitch," wrote one person.
Senate Labor Leader Penny Wong said that courtesy is essential in politics to ensure that the debate on policies and principles does not end up becoming a risk of real conflict.
"If you start a fire, it can quickly overwhelm us," Senator Wong said as she urged Senator Roberts to apologize.
Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said it was unacceptable for someone to leak private contact details and echoed Senator Wong's comments on courtesy. He said the government was willing to allow Senator Roberts to speak on the matter "to offer an apology."
The One Nation senator did not accept that offer, but instead claimed that Senator Lambie was misrepresenting One Nation because she was afraid that the party was gaining momentum in Tasmania.
"Yesterday, Senator Lambie said that people make decisions and that those decisions have consequences," said Senator Roberts. But he also said: "We do not tolerate the publication of phone numbers that are private."
Post of Senator Lambie's number follows news site Crikey Publication of the phone number of United Australia Party MP Craig Kelly, which the site justified by pointing to spam messages previously sent by Kelly's party.
Charging
In her speech Monday, Senator Lambie said she did not support forcing people to get vaccinated, but said the mandates were not the same as discrimination.
“Being responsible for your own actions is not called discrimination, it is called being, you wouldn't believe it, a bloody adult,” Senator Lambie said.
Two Coalition senators, Alex Antic and Gerard Rennick, have vowed to retain their government votes unless he acts to end vaccine mandates, but so far, in key votes such as independent senator Rex Patrick's attempt to legislate a federal integrity commission, the two men have been paired. That is an arrangement for absent MPs that allows them not to vote without upsetting the balance of power in the chamber.
