According to one member of the Australian Parliament, King Charles III is not the country’s monarch, and she sure let him know it. The king had just finished his remarks to Australia’s governing body in Canberra on October 21, 2024 when Lidia Thorpe, an aboriginal senator from Victoria, shouted (via SBS News): “You are not our king! You are not sovereign! You are not our king! You are not sovereign! Give us our land back, give us what you stole from us!”
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Thorpe was soon removed from the chamber, but even as she was being escorted out, she continued shouting “You are not our king!” and “This is not your land.” According to the BBC, the senator has long been an advocate for a treaty between Australia and its First Nations people, like the one New Zealand has. The BBC notes, “Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people emphasize that they never ceded their sovereignty or land to the Crown.” At least one other Aboriginal leader, Aunty Violet Sheridan, criticized Thorpe’s protest, calling it “disrespectful,” and adding, “She does not speak for me.”
King Charles has a long history with Australia
People notes that Buckingham Palace had no comment about the protest. But Charles, who was on his first visit to the country since his 2023 coronation, did address Australian indigenous people’s path to reconciliation in his remarks. The monarch said (via ABC News), “In my many visits to Australia, I have witnessed the courage and hope that have guided the Nations’ long and sometimes difficult journey towards reconciliation.”
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Before it even started, Charles’ trip to Australia promised to come with some controversy. The BBC reported that in the weeks leading up to his trip, Buckingham Palace exchanged letters with the Australian Republic Movement, a group that aims to remove Australia from the British Commonwealth. One of Charles’ letters reportedly stated, “His Majesty, as a constitutional monarch, acts on the advice of his Ministers, and whether Australia becomes a republic is therefore a matter for the Australian public to decide.”
Australia’s last referendum on the issue came in 1999, when the effort to stop being a constitutional monarchy failed 55-45. In early 2024, efforts to put up another referendum to a vote were put on indefinite hold despite Prime Minister Anthony Albanese making it a campaign promise in 2022.
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King Charles’ Australia tour is for ‘proving he isn’t dying’
The brief tour of Australia hasn’t been generating the best headlines for King Charles. Prior to the heckling incident, The Guardian reports that King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla made an appearance at a handful of events in Sydney, including a service at St. Thomas’ Anglican church, and a luncheon in his honor at the Parliament House of New South Wales. His presence was met by a group of protestors denouncing Britain’s imperial history, and his attendance at the luncheon was notably brief.
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After making a short speech, Charles presented the gift of an hourglass, which he said was in the spirit of marking the passage of time. Shortly after, The Guardian reported that the king left the event within ten minutes of arriving, retreating from the public eye until the following day. The early departure prompted a fresh round of speculation about the King’s health as he continues to be treated for an undisclosed form of cancer, traveling with two private doctors and a supply of his own blood, according to the Times of London.
A courtier speaking to The Daily Beast described the trip in stark terms, saying, “It’s all about proving he isn’t dying, to be blunt. The problem is that if anything goes wrong, people will leap to the opposite conclusion.” Amid protests and questions about his health, it remains to be seen if the trip accomplishes Charles’ goals.
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