There are calls for Senator Lidia Thorpe to resign after she was escorted from Parliament House’s Great Hall for screaming “f*** the colony” in a tirade directed at King Charles during His Majesty’s visit to Canberra.
The King had just finished his speech and was returning to his seat after shaking hands with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese when Thorpe began yelling from the back of the room.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Senator Lidia Thorpe yells at King Charles.
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“You committed genocide against our people. Give us our land back. Give us what you stole from us, our bones, our skulls, our babies, our people, you destroyed our land,” Thorpe said during her outburst on Monday.
“We want a treaty in this country.
“This is not your land. You are not my King, you are not our King.
“F*** the colony.”
Security surrounded Thorpe, who was then escorted from the hall where a reception for political and community leaders — and Australians who have excelled in the fields of health, arts, culture and sport — was being held.
The King continued to chat with Albanese during the disruption, which lasted about one minute.
The incident sparked calls for Thorpe to resign as a senator for Victoria, with the Australian Monarchist League describing her behaviour as a “childing demonstration”.
“Senator Thorpe should step down with immediate effect,” league national chair Philip Benwell said.
“The Australian Monarchist League unequivocally condemns the ill-considered behaviour of this isolated senator.
“Her childish demonstration has done nothing to diminish the gratitude and pride that millions of Australians have for our country, its history, its peoples and its sound system of governance. In fact, it has likely only strengthened these feelings.
“Should she not resign, the league expects Senator Thorpe will be referred to the President of the Senate and that her misconduct will be addressed in accordance with what is the obvious and prevailing public sentiment.”
In a statement released on Monday afternoon, Thorpe said her aim was to “hand King Charles a notice of complicity in the genocide of the First Peoples of this county”.
“The visit by the so-called King should be an occasion of truth-telling about the true history of this country,” Thorpe said. “The colonial state has been built on the continuing genocide on First Peoples.”
“Today I was silenced and removed from the parliamentary reception when pointing out that the Crown stole from First Peoples.
“The British Crown committed heinous crimes against the First Peoples of this country. These crimes include war crimes, crimes against humanity and failure to prevent genocide. There has been no justice for these crimes. The Crown must be held accountable.”
‘Threatened to arrest me’
Thorpe’s blast came after she narrowly avoided arrest after an exchange with a police officer outside the Australian War Memorial in the nation’s capital.
Well away from the official proceedings and under the watchful eye of police, a group of a dozen or so Indigenous protesters started up chants of “always was, always will be Aboriginal land”.
Thorpe said she was “threatened” with arrest by Australian Federal Police for wearing a shirt that said: “Stolen Land, Stolen Lives, Stolen Wealth.”
“I was at a rally to call out the crimes committed by the Crown. This is a clear attack on free speech and expression, at the war memorial of all places,” she said.
Hundreds of well-wishers and an alpaca gathered to catch a glimpse of the royal couple at the war memorial
Loud cheers and renditions of God Save the King from several hundred onlookers greeted the royals as they moved into view along Anzac Pde.
The pair privately paid their respects at the memorial’s commemorative area, laying a wreath and floral tribute before moving to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander memorial, For Our Country.
King Charles, sporting a navy suit and a bevvy of military medals, and Queen Camilla, in her white silk dress, spent more than 30 minutes shaking hands and chatting with the gathered onlookers — some wearing commemorative crowns, others offering bouquets of flowers.
The King and Queen are currently on their third full day of their short tour of Australia.
The royals will return to Sydney on Tuesday where they will meet more members of the public and attend a naval fleet review on the Admiral Hudson vessel.
Following the five-day tour of Australia, they will travel to Samoa where the King will open the annual Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
– With AAP