Senator Lidia Thorpe, an Indigenous Australian, heckled King Charles on his visit to Australia by yelling anti-colonial slogans in the parliament. It is well known that Thorpe is adamantly opposed to monarchy.
During King Charles’s visit to Australia on Monday, an independent Australian senator disrupted the parliamentary greeting by yelling anti-colonial slogans like “you are not my king” before being led out of the room by security guards.
“You do not rule over me. You killed our people with genocide. Return our land to us. In words that went viral on social media, Lidia Thorpe, a well-known opponent of monarchy and vocal supporter of Indigenous rights, vowed to return what you had stolen from us: our bones, skulls, babies, and people.
Currently on a five-day tour to Australia, King Charles and Queen Camilla were involved in the incident. According to The Guardian, the King spoke to senators and members of parliament from Australia today in the Great Hall of Parliament House in Canberra. In addition to being King Charles’s first trip to Australia as a monarch, this was also his first trip since being diagnosed with cancer earlier this year.
Thorpe, an Indigenous senator from Victoria who was there at the reception, rushed up from the aisle and yelled, “This is not your land,” at the monarch who was seated a few meters away as King Charles ended his speech. My king is not you.”
“You ruined our country. Please give us a gift. Here in this country, we want a treaty. Clad in a fur robe, Thorpe declared, “You are a genocidalist.” The senator yelled once more, “This is not your land,” as guards brought her to the hall door. You do not rule over me. You do not reign over us. F*** the settlement.
The Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was called aside by the king for a chat on the platform of the hall while security men moved to block Thorpe from getting to King Charles, ABC News said.
For more than a century, Australia was a British colony, and thousands of Aboriginal Australians were either slaughtered or forced to flee during that time. Despite achieving de facto independence in 1901, the nation is still a constitutional monarchy and not yet a republic. The head of state at the moment is King Charles.
Thorpe had turned her back on the royal couple earlier, during a choir performance of the Australian hymn.
Many Australians denounced Thorpe’s outburst, with former prime minister Tony Abbott characterizing it as “unfortunate political exhibitionism”.
“This political exhibitionism is regrettable. That’s all I have to say,” Abbott, who was in attendance, stated.
Speaking at the Great Hall was Australian businessman Dick Smith, who said, “I think that’s the wonderful part of our democracy – that she’s not going to be put in jail.”
Thorpe has already made headlines for her statements and deeds against the monarchy.
When asked to swear allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II, the mother of King Charles and the head of state of Australia at the time, Thorpe raised her right fist and used the word “colonising” in 2022.
A Senate official reprimanded her after she said, “I sovereign, Lidia Thorpe, do solemnly and sincerely swear that I will be faithful and I bear true allegiance to the colonizing Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.” The senator then made her recite the oath that was printed on the card.
A referendum last year on whether or not to include Indigenous Australians in the constitution and establish a special assembly for the community was heavily rejected by voters.
In 1999, a dispute arose over whether MPs or the general public should select the queen’s successor, with over half of Australians voting against her removal.
