Senator Lidia Thorpe disrupts King Charles's visit to Parliament, yelling ‘you are not my King’
Senator Lidia Thorpe has been removed from an official ceremony for King Charles at Parliament House as he finished his speech, yelling: “This is not your land.”
The King was walking away from the podium after saying his final words at the Great Hall in Parliament House when Senator Thorpe was heard yelling from the back of the room.
“This is not your land,” Senator Thorpe could be heard yelling.
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Senator Thorpe entered the room and stormed down the hallway, delivering a protest impossible to miss.
“You are not our king, you are not our sovereign,” she continued.
“You committed genocide against our people.
“Give us our land rights.
“Give us what you stole from us. Our babies, our people, you destroyed our land.
“It’s not your land, you are not our King.
“We want a treaty in this country.”
Security quickly swarmed around the senator who continued to yell at the King, Queen and room full of dignities.
Footage cut to Senator Thorpe surrounded by four security who were attempting to remove her from the room.
Earlier in the day, Senator Thorpe tussled with a police officer during a protest ahead of King Charles’ visit to Canberra.
A small group of protesters were told to move back from a barrier outside the Australian War Memorial in Canberra on Monday just over an hour before King Charles and Queen Camilla were set to arrive.
A police officer repeatedly told the crowd to move to an area designated for protests.
The group — who held a large Aboriginal flag and signs condemning the monarch, AUKUS and the CIA — refused until a squad of Australian Federal Police arrived.
During the commotion, an officer pointed at Senator Thorpe and shouted “arrest her”.
The Senator tussled with a female officer but took off her shirt the officer was grabbing onto and walked away.
“Everything that we suffer in this country is because of that colonial invasion,” she said.
She later re-joined the crowd.
In a statement released following the scuffle, the senator called for a treaty with Indigenous people to be signed before Australia became a republic.
“The Crown invaded this country, has not sought a treaty with First Peoples, and committed a genocide of our people. King Charles is not the legitimate sovereign of these lands,” she said.
Ambitions to become a republic have fallen off the Government’s agenda after the resounding defeat of the Voice referendum last year.
