Britain\u2019s King Charles III had just finished giving a speech to Australia\u2019s Parliament House on Monday when an Indigenous senator began yelling, \u201cYou are not my king.\u201d <\/p>\n
From the back of the room, Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe shouted at the royal couple, \u201cGive us our land back, give us what you stole,\u201d as security officers moved to escort her away. <\/p>\n
The interjection came as King Charles and Queen Camilla visited the Australian capital Canberra to meet the nation\u2019s leaders, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. <\/p>\n
During his speech, King Charles acknowledged Australia\u2019s First Nations people, who lived on the land for tens of thousands of years before the arrival of British settlers over 230 years ago. <\/p>\n
\u201cThroughout my life, Australia\u2019s First Nations people have done me the great honor of sharing so generously their stories and cultures,\u201d King Charles said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI can only say how much my own experience has been shaped and strengthened by such traditional wisdom.\u201d <\/p>\n
Earlier, a traditional Aboriginal welcoming ceremony was held outside Parliament House for the royal couple, but for many of the country\u2019s Indigenous population, they are not welcome. <\/p>\n
The arrival of British settlers to Australia led to the massacre of Indigenous people at hundreds of locations around the country until as recently as the 1930s. Their ancestors still suffer from racism and systemic discrimination in a country that has failed to reverse centuries of disadvantage. <\/p>\n
Thorpe, a DjabWurrung Gunnai Gunditjmara woman, has long campaigned for a treaty and has previously voiced her fierce objections to the British monarchy. <\/p>\n
Australian\u2019s Indigenous people never ceded sovereignty and have never engaged in a treaty process with the British Crown. Australia remains a Commonwealth country with the King as its Head of State. <\/p>\n
During her swearing-in ceremony in 2022, Thorpe referred to Australia\u2019s then-Head of State as \u201cthe colonizing Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II,\u201d and was asked to take the oath again. <\/p>\n
She did so while raising one fist in the air. <\/p>\n
On Monday, protesters stood with an Aboriginal flag as the royal couple visited the Australian War Memorial. A 62-year-old man was arrested for failing to comply with a police direction. <\/p>\n
Before she yelled at the King, Thorpe turned her back during a recital of \u201cGod Save the King,\u201d Australian media reported. Images showed her wearing a possum-fur coat, standing in the opposite direction of other attendees. <\/p>\n
The Greens party said in a statement that the King\u2019s presence was \u201ca momentous occasion for some\u201d but also a \u201cvisual reminder of the ongoing colonial trauma and legacies of British colonialism\u201d for many First Nations people. <\/p>\n
In the statement, Greens Senator Dorinda Cox, a Yamatji Noongar woman, called for the King to be clear in his recognition and support of \u201cFirst Nations justice, truth telling and healing.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cHe now needs to be on the right side of history,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n
The Australian Monarchist League demanded Thorpe\u2019s resignation after what it called a \u201cchildish demonstration.\u201d <\/p>\n
King Charles and Queen Camilla arrived in Sydney on Friday, part of the monarch\u2019s first tour to a Commonwealth realm since acceding the throne. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s the King\u2019s first long-haul multi-country trip since his cancer diagnosis earlier this year, and his schedule is said to have been lightened on medical advice. <\/p>\n
However, Monday\u2019s outing was a blur of activity that began with a meet and greet with supporters, many waving Australian flags. <\/p>\n
Among them was an alpaca by the name of Hephner, who caught the King\u2019s eye and immediately sneezed on him. <\/p>\n
Royal fan Chloe Pailthorpe, 44, said she was excited about the royal tour and had been writing to the royal household since age 10. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe just love what the royals do and how they impact local communities, and support what we do with volunteering, and just community service work,\u201d she told Agence France-Presse (AFP). <\/p>\n
A 21-gun salute heralded the King\u2019s arrival at Parliament House, and in his speech, Albanese commended the royal couple for their charitable work. <\/p>\n
He also commented on the King\u2019s early appreciation of the \u201cthe grave reality of climate change\u201d and the necessity for humans to \u201ctake meaningful and effective action against it.\u201d <\/p>\n
To reflect his interest in the environment, the King was invited to plant trees at Parliament House and the Botanic Gardens. <\/p>\n
The royal couple\u2019s next stop will be Sydney on Tuesday for a public reception outside the Opera House before they fly to Samoa for the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), the king\u2019s first as head of the organization. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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