“This is not your country. You stole from us”
At the end of British King Charles' speech to the Australian Parliament, Indigenous senator Lidia Thorpe expressed her displeasure.
The independent senator from Victoria, who for years has been openly fighting for the rights of indigenous people, ostentatiously turned her back on the king when the United Kingdom's national anthem resounded. And after King Charles III's speech, she gave him a hearty swipe: “You have committed genocide against our people. Give us back our land. Give us what you stole from us - our bones, our skulls, our babies, our people.”
“This is not your land.”
And she went even further. “You destroyed our land. Give us a treaty. We want a treaty in this country. You are a genocidist,” she continued. “You are not my king, you are not our king! Give our country back, give us back what you stole from our people!” the woman shouted, before being led away by security guards.
It is 75-year-old Charles' first visit to Australia as king. It is also his first major foreign trip since his unspecified cancer diagnosis earlier this year. The British king is also the head of state of the former colony.
(FVDV for Tagtik/Photo: Picture by New Zealand Defence Force from Wellington, New Zealand, licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons)