Australian senator censured for heckling King Charles over colonial legacy

Australian lawmakers have censured Aboriginal senator Lidia Thorpe for heckling King Charles during his visit to Canberra last month, condemning her protest as “disrespectful and disruptive.”

Thorpe interrupted the King after his speech at Parliament’s Great Hall, shouting, “You are not my King” and “This is not your land,” in a protest aimed at highlighting the lasting impacts of British colonization.

The Senate passed the censure motion 46-12, expressing “profound disapproval” of Thorpe’s actions and recommending she be barred from representing the chamber in official delegations. Though symbolic and carrying no legal weight, the motion sparked heated debate.

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Shortly after the vote, Thorpe criticized the process, saying she was denied the chance to respond due to a delayed flight. “The British Crown committed heinous crimes against the first peoples of this country… I will not be silent,” she told reporters.

The protest drew bipartisan condemnation and criticism from some Aboriginal leaders but also garnered praise from activists who viewed it as a spotlight on the continued disadvantage of Indigenous Australians. Despite the controversy, the King was warmly received during his five-day tour with Queen Camilla.

“You have shown great respect for Australians, even during times when we have debated the future of our own constitutional arrangements,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in his official remarks to the King.

Thorpe, a Gunnai, Gunditjmara, and Djab Wurrung woman, is no stranger to controversy. During her 2022 swearing-in ceremony, she referred to Queen Elizabeth II as a colonizer, a comment that drew global attention.

Her protest comes at a delicate time for Australia’s Indigenous politics, following last year’s referendum defeat on establishing an Indigenous advisory body in the constitution. Thorpe, a prominent “No” campaigner, had criticized the proposal as tokenistic, reflecting ongoing divisions within the Indigenous community over the path to justice and recognition.