Monarch had just finished speaking in parliament when he was surprised by a protest led by Aboriginal senator Lidia Thorpe (who in 2022 described Elizabeth II as a “colonizer”).
King Charles III is on an official visit to Australia, which was marked by a moment of tension in the country’s parliament, in Canberra, when this Monday, shortly after a speech by the monarch, a senator accused him of “genocide” and shouted: “[Você] “He is not our king.”
“He is not our king, he is not sovereign. He committed genocide against our people.. Give us back our land. Give us back what was stolen from us. Our bones, our skulls, our babies, our people. Destroyed our land. Give us a treaty, we want a treaty in this country. This is not your land. [Você] He is not my King,” shouted Lidia Thorpe, who also shouted “Fuck the colonies” before being escorted out of the room by security guards.
RIP:
The end of King Charles’ speech was interrupted by a protest from an indigenous activist.
Senator Lidia Thorpe shouted on stage “you are not our King”, “this is not your land”.
He demanded that the king apologize for British atrocities in Australia. pic.twitter.com/ZytV8X9OC9– Chris Ship (@chrisshipitv) October 21, 2024
Footage shows the King smiling at others present during the protest. According to anonymous sources cited by The Telegraph, the head of state “was not bothered” by the interruption and did not let it overshadow a “wonderful day.” The protest had already been previously announced by the senator herself to journalists, according to the same newspaper. “All the wealth he created for his family was stolen. “I should apologize for stealing our land,” he said before the protest.
King Charles III’s speech, given moments earlier, had focused on the native people of Australia and their “traditional wisdom.” The monarch paid tribute to the “traditional owners of the lands on which we stand” and recalled the visits of his mother, Elizabeth II, to the country.
Lidia Thorpe, 51, is an independent senator and Aboriginal activist who has already led other protests. In 2022, for example, she was forced to repeat the oath of allegiance in parliament after calling Queen Elizabeth II a “colonizer.”
[Já saiu o terceiro episódio de “A Grande Provocadora”, o novo podcast Plus do Observador que conta a história de Vera Lagoa, a mulher que afrontou Salazar, desafiou os militares de Abril e ridicularizou os que se achavam donos do país. Pode ouvir aqui, no Observador, e também na Apple Podcasts, no Spotify e no Youtube. E pode ouvir aqui o primeiro episódio e aqui o segundo.]
King Charles III is visiting Australia. In a speech, the Australian Prime Minister told the King that he has “great respect for Australians even as we debate the future of our own constitutional arrangements and the nature of our relationship with the Crown.”
“Australians have long felt that the warmth their mother felt for this country thrives in their hearts. “Your Majesties are very welcome here and, on behalf of all Australians, we wish you an absolutely splendid stay,” he said.
Source: Observadora
