Australian lawmakers have voted to censure an Aboriginal senator who heckled King Charles during his visit to Canberra last month, to express their “deep disapproval” of his protest.
Lidia Thorpe shouted “you are not my king” and “this is not your land” shortly after the king addressed the Great Hall of Parliament, in a bid to highlight the impacts of British colonization.
The Senate censure, passed 46-12, called Thorpe's actions “disrespectful and disruptive” and said they should disqualify her from representing the chamber as a member of a delegation.
A motion of censure is politically symbolic but has no constitutional or legal weight.
Shortly after the Senate vote Monday, Thorpe told reporters he was denied the right to respond on the House floor due to a flight delay.
“The British Crown has committed heinous crimes against the first people of this country…I will not remain silent,” the independent senator said.
His protest last month immediately sparked anger across all political parties, as well as some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders.
But it also drew praise from some activists who said it highlighted the plight of Australia's original inhabitants, who endured colonial violence and still face severe disadvantages in health, wealth , education and life expectancy compared to non-Indigenous Australians.
Despite protests, the king was warmly received by Australian crowds during his five-day tour alongside Queen Camilla.
“You have shown great respect for Australians, even at a time when we were debating the future of our own constitutional arrangements and the nature of our relationship with the Crown. Nothing stands still,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in an official speech.
Thorpe has a history of indigenous activism that has sometimes made global headlines.
At her 2022 inauguration ceremony, Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung's wife called Queen Elizabeth II a colonizer – and was urged to renew her oath after facing criticism.
Last year, Australia decisively rejected a proposal to grant constitutional recognition to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and allow them to establish a body to advise Parliament on matters impacting on their communities.
The referendum – known as The Voice – found itself caught in a bruising campaign, and both political sides sought to move forward quickly, leaving uncertainty over future policy.
Although data suggests a majority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people voted “yes”, support was not unanimous. Thorpe herself was a leading “no” campaigner, having criticized the measure as symbolic.
