King Charles‘ speech at the Australian parliament was followed by indigenous senator Lidia Thorpe‘s verbal attack on the monarch as she shouted ‘you are not my king’ before being taken outside the parliament. Explaining her action, Thorpe told Sky News that Charles should answer for the thousands of massacre sited in Australia. “We have our bones and our skulls still in his possession — or in his family’s possession.We want that back,” the senator said.
“We want our land back and we want your King to take some leadership and sit at the table and discuss a treaty with us,” she said.
The monarch’s five-day visit to Australia has not been smooth and King Charles and Queen Camilla faced low-key protests from supporters of Frist Nations resistance to colonization who have been displaying banner urging “decolonize” at a number of events.
The King on Monday was addressing Australian Parliament House and as he finished Lidia Thorpe approached the stage and shouted ‘this is not your country’ for 30 seconds. An indigenous person and an advocate for indigenous rights, Lidia said, “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 are not our king, you are not sovereign… You destroyed our land,” she said.
As she was escorted outside, she continued yelling: “F*** the colony.”
Who is Lidia Thorpe?
51-year-old Lidia Thorpe is an independent senator and indigenous activist.
In 2017, she joined the Green Party and became the first indigenous woman elected to the state parliament of Victoria.
In 2018, she lost her seat but in 2020, she was re-elected to serve as a senator for the party in the federal government.
Last week, Lidia released a statement calling for Australia to become a republic and form a treaty with First National people. “As First Peoples, we never ceded our sovereignty over this land. The crown invaded this country, has not sought treaty with First Peoples, and committed a genocide of our people,” the statement said.
“King Charles is not the legitimate sovereign of these lands. Any move towards a republic must not continue this injustice. Treaty must play a central role in establishing an independent nation,” Thorpe said.
Lidia’s action invited flak from former senator Nova Peris who said, “As a former Senator and the first Aboriginal woman in the Australian Parliament, I am deeply disappointed by the actions of Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe during King Charles III’s visit to Parliament House. Her outburst, which disrupted what should have been a respectful event, was both embarrassing and disrespectful to our nation and the Royal Family.”