'You're Not Our King': Indigenous Senator Heckles King Charles In Australia Parliament
Lidia Thorpe, who is known to be an outspoken advocate for Indigenous rights, referred to the monarch as a 'genocidalist'.
An Indigenous Australian senator, Lidia Thorpe, heckled King Charles during his visit to the Australian parliament on Monday. After Charles concluded his speech at the Great Hall of Parliament House in Canberra, she shouted anti-colonial slogans, and accused the crown of stealing Aboriginal land.
Charles and Queen Camilla are on a 5-day visit to Australia, marking his inaugural visit to the country as monarch.
According to The Guardian, Charles' speech touched upon his time as a school student in Australia, the COVID-19 pandemic and Australia’s vulnerability to the climate crisis. Following this, Thorpe, an independent senator from Victoria, approached the stage yelling “this is not your country”.
She continued, “You committed genocide against our people. Give us our land back. Give us what you stole from us – our bones, our skulls, our babies, our people”. “You destroyed our land. Give us a treaty. We want a treaty in this country. You are a genocidalist.”
King Charles protester Lidia Thorpe, a Victoria Senator interrupts the great hall after speech pic.twitter.com/d02hoKW1rh
— Kate Mansey (@KateMansey) October 21, 2024
Thorpe, who is known to be a fiercely outspoken advocate for Indigenous rights, was being escorted by security officers to the doors as she shouted: “This is not your land. You are not my king. You are not our king.”
Thorpe, who was dressed in a long possum skin coat, could be heard shouting as she left the hall and was forced back into the foyer: “F**k the colony.”
Charles quietly spoke with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the podium, as security stopped the senator from approaching the monarch.
As per an AFP report, Australia was a British colony for more than 100 years, during which time thousands of Aboriginal Australians were killed and entire communities displaced. The country gained de facto independence in 1901 but has never become a fully-fledged republic. King Charles is the current head of state.
Before the king’s speech, Albanese and the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, welcomed Charles and Camilla to Parliament House, thanking them for standing with Australians in good times and bad.
The Australian PM said that it was one of his honours of life to have led the Australian delegation attending the king’s coronation and praised the king’s engagement on issues including the climate crisis.
“You have shown great respect for Australians, even during times where we’ve debated the future of our own constitutional arrangements and the nature of our relationship with the crown,” Albanese said. “Nothing stands still.”
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