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Lidia Thorpe on why she yelled at King Charles

October 25, 2024

Australian senator Lidia Thorpe has spoken to Breakfast about why she heckled the royal during his visit to the country. (Source: Breakfast)

Australian senator Lidia Thorpe has spoken about why she heckled King Charles III during his visit to the country earlier this week.

The politician, who is a Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung woman, challenged King Charles at Parliament House in Canberra on Monday.

She was escorted from Parliament House after she interrupted proceedings immediately following a speech by King Charles, shouting that Australia is "not your land" and to "give us our land back".

"Give us what you stole from us. Our bones, our skulls, our babies, our people. You destroyed our land.

"Give us a treaty, we want a treaty in this country. It's not your land, you’re not my king, you’re not our king."

Lidia Thorpe heckles King Charles

Speaking to Breakfast today, Thorpe said she had an opportunity "to let the world know the plight of our people in this country".

Thorpe added she had tried other channels to get her message across prior to Monday such as writing letters to the King, which she claimed were "ignored".

"I have more international solidarity than I do in this country. But I also have many elders and Aboriginal communities reaching out saying 'thank you sister, thank you, it's what we've been saying for decades.'"

"I know people are upset, because it makes people uncomfortable. Truth telling makes people uncomfortable. So people need to take a moment and have a look at what I'm saying, rather than how I said it, [or] the bad manners. I didn't steal anything from anybody else, and I was sending a message to somebody who has inherited all the stolen wealth from indigenous people from around the globe."

When asked about the calls for her to be suspended or censured following her actions, Thorpe said: "I don't think shutting any Black woman down in any workplace is appropriate and that's just another instrument that the colonial system uses."

Thorpe said her hope from the comments was to raise awareness for a treaty in Australia.

"We could have a treaty of the 21st century. I think that's an exciting position to be putting out there in this country.

"We are divided for many reasons, and a treaty, as you know, is a peace-making instrument. I'd like to see everybody entertain that idea and learn about it and start having conversations about what they'd like to see in a treaty, and not be fearful of it."

Act of 'self-promotion'

As she yelled, King Charles spoke quietly with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese while they sat on a podium in the Great Hall, as security officers stopped Thorpe from approaching further and escorted her from the room.

Thorpe, who was a guest at the event, was criticised by other guests at the reception including former Liberal prime minister Tony Abbott and Victoria Cross recipient Keith Payne.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton labelled the senator's protest an act of "self-promotion" and said she should consider resigning.

"People need to express themselves respectfully and sometimes people make it all about themselves and I think that's what yesterday was," he told the ABC.

Labor minister Amanda Rishworth said Senator Thorpe's actions were "pretty disrespectful and not just to the King, but to the many great Australians that had gathered in the Great Hall".

Additional reporting by AAP

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