Britain’s King Charles III had just finished giving a speech to Australia’s Parliament House on Monday when an Indigenous senator began yelling, “You are not my king.”
In a video, the Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe shouted at the royal couple, “Give us our land back, give us what you stole,” as security officers moved to escort her away.
King Charles and Queen Camilla visited the Australian capital Canberra to meet the nation’s leaders, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
During his speech, King Charles acknowledged Australia’s First Nations people, who lived on the land for tens of thousands of years before the arrival of British settlers over 230 years ago.
“Throughout my life, Australia’s First Nations people have done me the great honor of sharing so generously their stories and cultures,” King Charles said.
“I can only say how much my own experience has been shaped and strengthened by such traditional wisdom.”
Before she yelled at the King, Thorpe turned her back during a recital of “God Save the King,” Australian media reported. Images showed her wearing a possum-fur coat, standing in the opposite direction of other attendees.
Lidia Thorpe’s outburst reflects deep anger over colonialism and demands for Indigenous rights and justice.

adeoye.o@thesubstancenews.com
info@thesubstancenews.com