Indigenous Australian senator heckles King Charles during parliament address

King Charles faced a protest from an Indigenous Australian senator during his address at Parliament House in Canberra, as he concluded a five-day visit to Australia with Queen Camilla.

As the monarch finished his speech, which covered topics including his time as a student in Australia and the country’s vulnerability to climate change, Lidia Thorpe, an independent senator from Victoria, approached the stage shouting, “This is not your country”.

Thorpe, a vocal advocate for Indigenous rights, accused the crown of committing genocide and stealing Aboriginal land. She demanded the return of stolen artefacts and called for a treaty.

As security officers escorted her from the Great Hall, Thorpe shouted, “You are not my king. You are not our king.”

The incident occurred during a key moment of Charles’s inaugural visit to Australia as monarch. Earlier, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and opposition leader Peter Dutton had welcomed the royal couple, praising the king’s engagement on issues such as climate change and reconciliation.

Albanese noted the king’s respect for Australians, even during debates about the country’s constitutional arrangements and relationship with the crown.

Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, an avowed royalist, expressed dismay at the protest, calling it “unfortunate political exhibitionism”.

Prior to the event, Thorpe had released a statement arguing for Australia to become a republic and establish a treaty with First Nations people. She asserted that Indigenous people had never ceded sovereignty over the land and that the crown had invaded the country without seeking a treaty.

The debate around treaties between Australia’s governments and First Nations peoples has been ongoing since early colonisation, with renewed calls in the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart.

Despite the disruption, Charles and Camilla’s visit included more positive encounters. Earlier in the day, they greeted members of the public at the Australian War Memorial, where they shook hands and met with children.

ACT police reported that Thorpe was part of a protest group near the memorial earlier on Monday. Separately, several arrests were made, with most individuals released without charge.