King Charles’ speech in the Australian parliament was followed by a verbal attack on the king by Indigenous senator Lydia Thorpe.
She shouted “You are not my king” before being led away from parliament. Explaining her actions, Ms Thorpe told Sky News that Charles must be held accountable for the thousands of massacres that have taken place in Australia. “Our bones and skulls still belong to him, or his family, and we want them back,” the senator said.
“We want our country back and we want your king to step up and come to the table and negotiate a treaty with us,” she said. The King’s five-day visit to Australia did not go smoothly, with King Charles and Queen Camilla facing subtle protests from supporters of the Indigenous resistance to colonisation, who carried banners calling for “decolonisation” at some events.
On Monday, the King spoke at the Australian Parliament House, and as he finished, Lydia Thorpe came up to the podium and shouted “This is not your country” for 30 seconds.
Lydia, an Indigenous woman and Indigenous rights activist, said: “They committed genocide against our people. Give us back our country. Give back what you stole from us, our bones, our skulls, our babies, our people.”
“You are not our king, you are not sovereign… “You have destroyed our country,” she said. As she was being driven away, she continued to shout. “Fuck the colony.”
Indigenous activist Lydia joined the Greens in 2017 and was elected as the first Indigenous woman to the Victorian parliament in 2018, but was re-elected to the federal senate in 2020. Last week, Lydia released a statement calling for Australia to become a republic and make a treaty with First Nations.
“We, as Indigenous people, have never given up our sovereignty over this land. The statement said, “The King has invaded this land, failed to seek a treaty with Indigenous peoples, and committed genocide against my people,” and “King Charles is not the rightful sovereign of these lands.” Any movement towards a republic must not perpetuate this injustice. “This treaty must play a central role in the establishment of an independent nation,” Thorpe said.
Lydia’s actions drew criticism from former senator Nova Peris, who said: “Her outburst inside Parliament during the visit of King Charles III disrupted a respectful event and was both embarrassing and disrespectful to our country and the Royal Family.”