According to one member of the Australian Parliament, King Charles III is not the country's monarch, and she sure let him know it in unsparing terms.
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00:00According to one member of the Australian Parliament,
00:03King Charles III is not the country's monarch, and she sure let him know it.
00:07The king had just finished his remarks to Australia's governing body in Canberra on
00:12October 21st, 2024, when Lydia Thorpe, an Aboriginal senator from Victoria, shouted,
00:18"[Shouting in Australian language.]
00:24Thorpe didn't stop there, continuing,
00:27"[Shouting in Australian language.]
00:30Thorpe was soon removed from the chamber, but even as she was being escorted out,
00:34she continued shouting,
00:35"'You are not our king, and this is not your land.'"
00:38According to the BBC, the senator has long been an advocate for a treaty between Australia
00:43and its First Nations people, like the one New Zealand has.
00:47The BBC notes,
00:48"[Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
00:51emphasise that they never ceded their sovereignty or land to the crown.]
00:55At least one other Aboriginal leader, Aunty Violet Sheridan,
00:58criticised Thorpe's protest, calling it disrespectful and adding,
01:02"'She does not speak for me.'"
01:04People notes that Buckingham Palace had no comment about the protest.
01:07But Charles, who was on just the first day of a six-day visit to the country — his
01:12first since he became king in 2022 — did address Australian Indigenous people's path
01:17to reconciliation in his remarks.
01:19"'I witness the courage and hope that have guided the nation's long
01:24and sometimes difficult journey.'"
01:26Before it even started, Charles' trip to Australia promised to come with some controversy.
01:31The BBC reported that in the weeks leading up to his trip, Buckingham Palace exchanged
01:35letters with the Australian Republic Movement, a group that aims to remove Australia from the
01:40British Commonwealth. One of Charles' letters reportedly stated,
01:44"'His Majesty, as a constitutional monarch, acts on the advice of his ministers,
01:48and whether Australia becomes a republic is therefore a matter for the Australian public
01:52to decide.'"
01:53Australia's last referendum on the issue came in 1999,
01:57when the effort to stop being a constitutional monarchy failed 55-45. In early 2024,
02:04efforts to put up another referendum to a vote were put on indefinite hold,
02:08despite Prime Minister Anthony Albanese making it a campaign promise in 2022.
02:13The brief tour of Australia hasn't been generating the best headlines for King Charles.
02:18Prior to the heckling incident, Charles and Camilla made an appearance at a handful of
02:22events in Sydney, including a service at St. Thomas Anglican Church and a luncheon in his
02:27honor at the Parliament House of New South Wales. His presence was met by a group of protesters
02:32denouncing Britain's imperial history, and his attendance at the luncheon was notably brief.
02:38After making a short speech, Charles presented the gift of an hourglass,
02:42which he said was in the spirit of marking the passage of time. Shortly after, The Guardian
02:46reported,
02:47"...the King left the event within 10 minutes of arriving, retreating from the public eye
02:51until the following day."
02:53The early departure prompted a fresh round of speculation about the King's health,
02:57as he continues to be treated for an undisclosed form of cancer, traveling with two private
03:02doctors and a supply of his own blood, according to The Times of London. A courtier speaking to
03:07The Daily Beast described the trip in stark terms, saying,
03:10"...it's all about proving he isn't dying, to be blunt. The problem is that if anything
03:15goes wrong, people will leap to the opposite conclusion."
03:18Amid protests and questions about his health,
03:20it remains to be seen if the trip accomplishes Charles' goals.