There were protests in Canberra, Australia on October 21 at both the War Memorial and inside the royal reception at Parliament House to confront King Charles III and Queen Camilla. Near the end of his speech in parliament, Charles was interrupted by Senator Lidia Thorpe who is a representative from the state of Victoria and an indigenous rights activist. Thorpe yelled at the King that, “You are not my King,” and that “This is not your country.” Thorpe “was attempting to hand the king a ‘notice of complicity in Aboriginal Genocide’ according to the Statute of the International Criminal Court 1998,” reported the Australian broadcaster, ABC. It was at that point that Thorpe was escorted out of the building. Earlier in the day Senator Thorpe also participated in protests during the King’s visit to the War Memorial where protesters held signs and large bright yellow banners with the theme of “Abolish the Monarchy.” The Green Party issued the statement that the King’s visit was a “visual reminder of the ongoing colonial trauma and legacies of British colonialism.”
Although Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been very respectful to the King, Albanese has been a long time supporter of the movement to make Australia a republic. The King and Queen will spend five days in Australia and then attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa. In 1999, republicans in Australia lost a very close vote to remove Queen Elizabeth from the position of head of state.
