Australian Indigenous senator Lidia Thorpe caused a stir in Parliament on Monday by shouting anti-colonial slogans during King Charles III’s visit. The outburst came moments after the monarch delivered a speech to lawmakers and dignitaries in Canberra as part of his nine-day tour of Australia and Samoa.
“Give us our land back! Give us what you stole from us!” Thorpe shouted, launching into a near minute-long tirade aimed at the 75-year-old British king. “This is not your land, you are not my king,” she added, condemning the European colonization of Australia, which she described as an ongoing “genocide” of Indigenous Australians.
The incident shocked the assembled audience, drawing attention to Thorpe’s outspoken views on Indigenous sovereignty and her long-standing opposition to the British monarchy. Australia was a British colony for over a century, during which thousands of Aboriginal Australians were killed and communities displaced. Though Australia achieved de facto independence in 1901, it has never fully transitioned into a republic, with King Charles currently serving as the head of state.
This is not the first time Thorpe has taken a public stand against the monarchy. During her swearing-in ceremony as a senator in 2022, she raised her fist in defiance while swearing allegiance to then-monarch Queen Elizabeth II, altering the wording of the oath to denounce her as a “coloniser.”
King Charles’ visit comes amid ongoing discussions about Australia’s constitutional relationship with the British crown. A referendum in 1999 narrowly rejected the idea of becoming a republic, while a 2023 vote to recognize Indigenous Australians in the constitution and create an Indigenous consultative body was also overwhelmingly defeated.
Thorpe’s protest underscored the continuing tensions surrounding Australia’s colonial past and the ongoing debate over the nation’s identity, especially in relation to its treatment of Indigenous peoples. King Charles, recently diagnosed with cancer, has yet to comment on the outburst.
