Britain’s King Charles was heckled by an Australian senator Monday after he finished an address at the country’s parliament house in Canberra.
Lidia Thorpe, an Indigenous Australian woman who sits as an independent, walked across the room toward the royal shortly after the monarch sat down on the stage next to his wife, Queen Camilla.
The senator from Victoria made an accusation of genocide against “our people” as she approached the stage, and said: “This is not your land, you are not my king.”
Thorpe was escorted from the room by security after around a minute of shouting, while Charles appeared to try and ignore the interruption, speaking quietly to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
The occasion then proceeded without any reference to the incident and the royal couple went on to greet members of the public.
Australia is part of the Commonwealth, which Charles heads up.
But Australia is the only former British colony which does not have a treaty between its government and its first inhabitants, and many argue they never gave their land or sovereignty over to the royals.
Australia has been grappling with the idea of becoming a republic for decades, and the argument has only strengthened since Queen Elizabeth II’s death in 2022 — many campaigners saw it as a natural break for the country to change its constitution.
Australia’s Prime Minister Albanese is also a long-term republican, but his government has said it has no plans to put the question of leaving the British crown to the public in a referendum.
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Australia voted to stay with the monarchy in a 1999 public vote, and there was an unsuccessful referendum on recognizing Indigenous communities in the constitution in 2023.
She added: “The king is not our sovereign; the king lives in your country. He’s from your country. He can’t be our king.”
Charles’ trip to Australia is his first since inheriting the throne and is the largest he has made since his cancer treatment began in February.
He and his wife were also met with protesters during their first walkabout in Australia, with some Indigenous demonstrators shouting that they “do not recognize the illegal occupation of this country.”
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