Australian Indigenous senator Lidia Thorpe made headlines on Monday after she yelled at King Charles during his visit to parliament.
Her outburst stunned the room and the dignitaries. She chanted anti colonial slogans.
“Give us back our land! Give us what you took from us!” she yelled for nearly a minute after the 75-year-old King finished speaking. She then said “This is not your land, you are not my king” and “Genocide of Indigenous Australians by European settlers”.
Australia was under British colonial rule for over a century where thousands of Aboriginal Australians were killed and entire communities were uprooted. Although Australia became self governing in 1901 it is still a constitutional monarchy with King Charles as head of state.
Thorpe’s protest came during Charles’ 9 day visit to Australia and Samoa, his first major trip overseas since his cancer diagnosis earlier this year.
Thorpe who is known for her bold political statements and anti monarchy views previously made headlines during her swearing in ceremony in 2022. As she reluctantly took the oath of office she raised her fist and altered the oath saying “I sovereign, Lidia Thorpe, do solemnly and sincerely swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to the colonising Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II”.
This caused an immediate rebuke from the Senate president Sue Lines who told her to follow the formal wording of the oath.
Australia has a complicated relationship with the monarchy. In 1999 Australians narrowly voted to keep the queen as head of state after a referendum to replace her with a president was defeated. In 2023 Australians voted overwhelmingly against changes to the constitution to formally recognise Indigenous Australians and establish an Indigenous advisory body.
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