An Indigenous Member of Parliament interrupted the reception of the British King Charles III during his first visit since taking the throne, demanding an agreement between the Australian government and the First Nations people.
In a ceremony held to welcome the king to Australia at Parliament House in Canberra on Monday, Senator Lidia Thorpe called out the British king that he is not his king and should “give us back our land.”
“Give us what you stole from us,” Thorpe said, before being quickly ushered out of the room by security. “You have destroyed our world. Give us a deal. We want an agreement.”
King Charles is on his first trip to Australia since his coronation in 2023. While Australia is ruled separately from the British throne, the monarch remains head of state. A national vote in 1999 to become a republic was completely defeated.
The king sat on the podium during Thorpe’s protest, and spoke quietly to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Thorpe is an outspoken advocate for the rights of indigenous Australians, often protesting at events or on the floor of the Senate.
He was previously an MP for the left-wing Greens Party but left the party in 2023 because of their support for an indigenous advisory group in Parliament – a body which Thorpe opposes.
Source link
