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King Charles verbally abused on two separate occasions on tour of Australia (CTV News)
by Mick the Ram
King Charles III has moved onto Samoa on the second part of his nine-day tour which began in Australia, where he was verbally abused by an independent senator in an attack against his head of state role for the country.
Lidia Thorpe, who is an Aboriginal from Victoria, is among those who have advocated for a treaty between Australia’s government and its first inhabitants. is among those who have advocated for a treaty between the Commonwealth country’s leaders and its first inhabitants.
Australia was settled by the British in the late 18th century, resulting in the mass displacement of Aboriginal communities and countless deaths due to disease and frontier massacres.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has expressed his preference for Australia to become a republic but has ruled out holding a referendum on the issue during the current parliamentary term.
Charles was addressing an audience at Parliament House in the capital, Canberra, when Thorpe interrupted the ceremony shouting out loudly for over a minute, slamming the King and insisting he be removed from the position.
She yelled repeatedly that he was not her king, backed up by shocking accusations against the monarch and his ancestors, before being led away by security.
Ahead of the disruption in Parliament, Charles, who is being accompanied by Queen Camilla, had been warmly welcomed on his first major visit anywhere in a year where he has been receiving treatment for cancer, and because of that issue the tour is considerably shorter than previous trips.
Charles gives backing to indigenous communities
The King spoke passionately about indigenous communities and what he had learnt from them, making the point that his own experience had been “shaped and strengthened by such traditional wisdom”.
He said he had witnessed the “courage and hope” which he noted had guided the nation’s “long and sometimes difficult journey towards reconciliation.”
Rantings of an anti-royalist
However, as he completed his speech the ranting of Ms Thorpe was all that could be heard. She told Charles that Australia was not his land and proceeded to accuse the British monarchy of “genocide against our people.”
She went on in an almost hysterical manner insisting that their land had been destroyed, saying: “ “give us what you stole from us; give us our bones, our skulls, our babies, our people.”
Genocide accusation
Later when confronted about her actions, she was non-repentant.She said she had wanted to send a “clear message” to the Kingand once again repeated her express belief that he is not of her land.
She maintained that “we can lead, we cannot bow to the coloniser, whose ancestors he spoke about in there are responsible for mass murder and mass genocide.”
No regrets
She had no shame in what she had done saying she was “not fussed” if some people felt she had abused her power.
Indeed, rather than that, she continued her aggressive stance and stated that her outburst was for “global truth telling about the royals who caused so much devastation – to not only your people in this country, but indigenous people around the world.”
Elder backs the King
Aboriginal elder Aunty Violet Sheridan, who had earlier welcomed the King and Queen, said Thorpe’s protest was “disrespectful”, and was keen to stress that her words were not shared by her or the vast majority.
“She does not speak for me; the King’s not well and he is going through chemo, so he didn’t need this. I surely appreciate him visiting here as it may be the last time he comes,” Ms Sheridan commented.
Second verbal abuse
Then after moving to Sydney, for the completion of the Australian leg of the tour, His Majesty was again verbally abused, this time by Wayne Wharton, a prominent Indigenous activist from Brisbane, who was arrested for shouting anti-monarchist slogans and refusing a police order to move on.
Thousands packed the harbourside forecourt to see the royal couple and witnessed Mr Wharton shouting similar abusive comments including “he’s not my King”, echoing the words of Ms Thorpe.
Charles was reported to be unruffled by either of the protests and a Buckingham Palace spokesperson preferred to focus on the heaving crowds who made the couple feel really welcome.
Still a popular head of state
For decades, Australia has debated whether to break from the monarchy and become a republic. In 1999 the question was put to the public in a referendum, and the then Queen Elizabeth II was resoundingly backed.
The royal couple are now in Samoa where part of their stay will involve attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
It is best to say what you have to say in their face rather than behind their back. I think every country that is still under monarchy control should break away and become independent. The monarchy keeps getting richer off the backs of other countries, so those countries remain poor and struggling to develop.