A politician staged a protest at a royal reception attended by the King and Queen in Canberra, shouting that the monarch had “committed genocide against our people”.
After speeches in Parliament House by the King, Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese and leader of opposition Peter Dutton, Lidia Thorpe, an independent senator from Victoria, walked down the aisle of the Great Hall shouting: “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. You destroyed our land. Give us a treaty. We want a treaty.”
As security guards began to usher Ms Thorpe, 51, away, she became more animated and continued to shout: “This is not your land. This is not your land. You are not my King. You are not my King.”
The King and Queen, who were still seated on the stage during the outburst, appeared to take no notice as the King turned to speak to the prime minister and Camilla turned towards his wife.
They were said to be “unruffled” by the outburst which he hoped would not overshadow what had been an otherwise “wonderful day”.
The reception had started with a welcome procession, as a didgeridoo announced Their Majesties’ arrival into the Great Hall at Parliament House.
They received a formal Welcome to Ngunnawal Country by senior Ngunnawal Elder Aunty Violet Sheridan.
After speeches from the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and leader of the opposition Peter Dutton, Charles spoke of his affection for Australia.
In an address which lasted a little over ten minutes, the King acknowledged the “timeless wisdom of Indigenous people” and spoke of his formative time at Geelong Grammar School, saying: “I had thought that the school I had been attending in Scotland was remote and testing enough, but nothing had quite prepared me for the realities of the bush country”.
The King said: “I arrived as an adolescent and left as a more rounded – if not even somewhat chiselled” – character once I had contended with brown snakes, leeches, funnel-web spiders and bull ants, and – bearing in mind this was very nearly 60 years ago – been given certain unmentionable parts of a bull calf to eat form a branding fire in outback Queensland.”
It was after the King had returned to his seat that Ms Thorpe broke free from the area where she had been standing.
Speaking before the reception, Ms Thorpe had warned of such an outburst saying: “I’m going to tell him he’s not my King. He’s not our King.
“All of the wealth that he has created for his family has been stolen. He should apologise for taking our land. We need a peace treaty.”
Until the protest, the event had been calm and quiet with dignitaries listening in silence to the speeches.
Before the King spoke, the Prime Minister had given a warm address, describing the late Queen as “a shining thread through the history of Australia”.
He then told Charles: “Since your first visit in 1966, you have been taken into Australian hearts – just as you have taken us into yours. You have known the great natural beauty of this continent in all its challenge and all its reward. You have known the warmth, strength and humour of our people. And what has grown out of your appreciation of all of this is an affection that flows both ways.”
Mr Albanese recalled the King’s Australian “educational experiences, ranging from your time at Timbertop to your time at the Countdown studio being interview by Molly Meldrum. Both, in their own ways, deeply formative experiences.”
The leader of the opposition party, Peter Dutton, used his speech to poke fun at the Republican Labor government during the royal visit, joking: “People have had hair cuts, people have shined shoes, shirts have been pressed… and that’s just the Republicans!”
Parliament House in Canberra is often described as the heart of Australian democracy and is one of the most open parliament buildings in the world.
Afterwards, the King and Queen walked out into the foyer of the building to huge applause, including school children waving flags. Outside, they took part in a traditional royal “walkabout”, now called “an opportunity to meet the public”.
Sarah Rimmer, 34, and Nicholas Hicks, 29, now live in Australia but are originally from Southport.
Hicks said: “I said thank you for the King for going to Southport after the attack [in July] and he said that he was pleased he could go and that the people there were very resilient.”
Jacqui Stewart, 52, from Brisbane, told the King that she had once had a gin and tonic with him during a parliamentary reception that her husband, who was serving in the military, had been invited to in the mid 1990s.
She said: “He had a gin and tonic and it is a very nice memory so I reminded him when we met.”
