Royal news live: Indigenous protestor arrested by police after attempting to confront King Charles in Sydney
The King previously accused of ‘genocide’ by senator Lidia Thorpe who shouted ‘You are not my King’
Your support helps us to tell the story
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.
An Indigenous protestor was arrested for attempting to confront King Charles on the final day of his Australian tour.
The monarch, 75, and his supporters were targeted by Wayne “Coco” Wharton, who encouraged the crowds gathered at the Sydney Opera House to leave with the King.
Mr Wharton said: “Go home with the King. He is a King of thieves and a King of liars. You have no receipt, you have no agreement on the occupation of this country. You are a nation of thieves. You’re guilty.”
He was subsequently arrested by police – a development that was met with applause.
Mr Wharton’s daughter, Nellie Pollard-Wharton, said he was attempting to issue an arrest notice for King Charles because of the royals’ historic treatment of Australia’s aboriginal people.
This came after a visit to the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence (NCIE) in Sydney, where the King met with First Nations elders. One told him their goal was “sovereignty” in an apparent reference to a protest the previous day.
On Monday, the monarch was accused of “genocide” against Australia’s First Nations by Senator Lidia Thorpe who told him, “You are not my King.”
Ms Thorpe, from Victoria, has long advocated for a treaty between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians to recognise their autonomy and set right historical wrongs.
Who is the Australian senator who confronted King Charles?
Australian senator Lidia Thorpe has made headlines around the world after denouncing King Charles following his Parliament House reception speech.
Ms Thorpe, an Indigenous woman from Victoria, has long advocated for a treaty between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians to recognise their autonomy and set right historical wrongs.
Ms Thorpe, a Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung mother, grandmother, is a well-known activist for Indigenous causes. Her recent actions, however, have been described as her most high-profile protest to date.
She became the first Indigenous woman to be elected to the Victorian state parliament with Green Party in 2017. While her seat was subsequently lost in 2018, she was preselected to be a senator for the party in the federal government in 2020.
At the time of her swearing into parliament in 2020, she raised her hand in a black power salute. She did so while wearing a traditional possum-skin cloak and holding an Aboriginal message stick.
The stick was covered in 441 marks to represent the deaths of Aboriginal people known to have died following the 1991 royal commission into deaths in custody.
She protested again in 2022 upon her re-election, describing the late Queen Elizabeth II “the colonising Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II” in her oath. Ms Thorpe was then forced to recite her oath again using the correct words.
The causes championed by Ms Thorpe on behalf of Indigenous Australians include the reform of the prison and justice systems, environmental issues and land rights.
Full story: King Charles heckled by Australian senator shouting ‘you are not my king’
King Charles‘s landmark address to Australia’s Parliament House on Monday was disrupted by a protesting Indigenous senator shouting “you are not my king” and accusing him of “committ[ing] genocide against our people”.
The King and Queen Camilla are on a five-day tour of Australia and Charles addressed the Great Hall of Parliament House on Monday in one of the most important engagements of his first visit to the country as monarch.
As he finished his speech, senator Lidia Thorpe approached the stage and shouted for around 30 seconds, saying “this is not your country”.
“You committed genocide against our people. Give us our land back. Give us what you stole from us – our bones, our skulls, our babies, our people,” said Ms Thrope, an outspoken advocate for Indigenous rights.
Read the full story below:
King Charles heckled by Australian senator shouting ‘you are not my king’
Charles, on a five-day visit to Australia, sees landmark speech to parliament disrupted by Indigenous senator Lidia Thorpe
Watch moment King Charles heckled by Australian senator Lidia Thorpe: ‘You are not my King’
This is the moment senator Lidia Thorpe heckles King Charles during a reception in Australia’s parliament.
The monarch had just finished addressing lawmakers in Canberra on Monday when Ms Thorpe shouted “This is not your land. You are not my King.”
She continued raising her voice in protest, saying “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!”
Security stopped Ms Thorpe from getting close and ushered her out of the chamber as the King turned to talk to prime minister Anthony Albanese.
Who is the Indigenous Australian MP who accused King Charles of genocide on royal tour?
Lidia Thorpe: Who is the Indigenous Australian MP who shouted at King Charles?
‘Give us our land back. Give us what you stole from us – our bones, our skulls, our babies, our people’, she shouted
Prime minister praises King’s ‘fantastic’ work in Australia despite cancer
The British prime minister has praised the King’s “fantastic” work during his Australia tour despite facing cancer.
Sir Keir Starmer made the comments after Charles was berated by Australian senator Lidia Thorpe, who accused the King of “genocide” against her nation’s indigenous people.
“I think the King is doing a fantastic job, an incredible ambassador, not just for our country, but across the Commonwealth,” Sir Keir said on Monday.
“We should remember in the context of health, that he is out there doing his public service notwithstanding, you know, the health challenges he himself has had - so I think he’s doing a great job,” he added.
Today in pictures: Charles and Camilla’s visit to Canberra
Senator Lidia Thorpe shares beheaded King Charles cartoon on Instagram after monarchy heckle
An Australian senator who confronted King Charles in parliament has shared a cartoon showing the monarch beheaded on social media.
Lidia Thorpe, 51, an outspoken advocate for Indigenous rights, shouted at the King in a fiery address during his royal reception in Great Hall of Parliament House on Monday.
She approached the stage shouting “you are not my king” and accusing the King of “committing genocide against our people”, as she urged him to negotiate treaty between Australia‘s First Nations and its government.
After her protest, the independent politician took to social media to further reiterate her position, sharing a cartoon showing a beheaded King Charles to her Instagram story.
The original post, shared by artist Matt Chun, was captioned with Thorpe’s words she directed at the King earlier on Monday: “You are not our king. You are not sovereign.”
Read the full story here:
Senator Lidia Thorpe shares beheaded King Charles cartoon on Instagram after heckle
Indigenous politician shouted at the King in a fiery speech as he visited the Australian parliament
Voices: It takes more than an angry Aussie heckler to ruffle King Charles’s feathers…
During his tour of Australia, the King has found himself a lightning rod for republican protests, which was to have been anticipated – but might it have been dealt with more deftly by his handlers, asks Hugo Vickers:
It takes more than an angry Aussie heckler to ruffle King Charles’s feathers…
During his tour of Australia, the King has found himself a lightning rod for republican protests, which was to have been anticipated – but might it have been dealt with more deftly by his handlers, asks Hugo Vickers
What did King Charles say in his speech before he was confronted?
In his speech to the Australian parliament on Monday, Charles spoke affectionately about his relationship with Australia, a country he first visited as a teenager, saying he arrived as an “adolescent” and left more “chiselled” after his experience studying in the Outback.
He also highlighted the debt he owed to Australia’s Indigenous people.
Charles said: “In my many visits to Australia, I have witnessed the courage and hope that have guided the nation’s long and sometimes difficult journey towards reconciliation.
“Throughout my life, Australia’s First Nations peoples have done me the great honour of sharing, so generously, their stories and cultures. I can only say how much my own experience has been shaped and strengthened by such traditional wisdom.”
Footage revealed of King Charles’ visit to Australia in 1966
The Royal Family has posted footage of King Charles visiting Australia as a young man.
In a post on X, they said: “In 1966, when he was seventeen, The King spent two terms at Timbertop in the mountains of south-eastern Australia.
“The co-educational campus of Geelong Grammar School is located near Mansfield in Victoria, and combines normal schooling with outdoor activities, such as hiking, trail running, cross-country skiing and camping, to foster independence and initiative.”
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments