King Charles and Queen Camilla tour Canberra
Controversial senator Lidia Thorpe reveals she had planned to hand a “notice of complicity” to King Charles during a shocking tirade at Parliament’s Great Hall.
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Controversial Senator Lidia Thorpe has unloaded on King Charles in a shocking interruption after the monarch’s address to the Great Hall, as she tiried to serve him a “notice of complicity in Aboriginal genocide”.
Senator Thorpe screamed out “f**k the colony” and “you are not my King” just moments after the monarch had delivered his address praising Australia.
She also yelled out a demand for “treaty” and said “you stole our land” and “you are not our King”.
“Give us our land back that you f**king stole from us,” she screamed.
“Our bones, our skulls, our babies, our people.
“You destroyed our land.”
Senator Thorpe later issued a statement saying she had intended to give the King a notice of complicity in Aboriginal Genocide, according to the Statute of the International Criminal Court 1998.
“Krauatungalung Elder, Uncle Robbie Thorpe, issued this notice to the International Criminal Court on October 13 this year, requesting King Charles be charged and prosecuted for genocide,” she said.
“The visit by the so-called King should be an occasion of Truth-telling about the true history of this country.
“The colonial state has been built on the continuing Genocide on First Peoples.
“Today I was silenced and removed from the parliamentary reception when pointing out that the Crown stole from First Peoples.”
The crossbench senator’s outburst sparked groans from some fellow attendees, though the King and Queen Camilla appeared calm throughout her outburst.
Senator Thorpe was swiftly evicted by security guards, who had been watching her hawkishly throughout the proceedings.
Australian parliamentarians, including a glum-looking Immigration Minister Tony Burke and Foreign Minister Penny Wong, stood quietly as Senator Thorpe hollered at the royal couple.
It was not the first protest action by the senator.
Earlier in the day, she was nearly arrested at an Indigenous protest outside the Australian War Memorial.
A group of some two dozen Indigenous protesters had positioned themselves outside the Memorial, chanting “always was, always will be Aboriginal land”.
The group was well away from where the King and Queen appeared.
In a video circulating online, a police officer can be seen holding Senator Thorpe’s red shirt.
Senator Thorpe then twists out of the shirt and walks away from the officer, who follows her.
The outspoken Indigenous senator is a relentless critic of the monarchy and Britain’s intrusion into the Australian continent.
She left the protest and could later be seen inside parliament, waiting for the arrival of the monarchs.
In a statement, the AFP said no arrests had been made from the incident.
“This morning, police spoke to a protest group near the Australian War Memorial,” an AFP spokeswoman said.
“The group was directed to move on from the area and they complied with that direction.
“No arrests were made and police consider the matter finalised.”
Later, in the Great Hall, Senator Thorpe also turned her back as the Australian anthem was played.
In a statement released on Monday, Senator Thorpe said the British Crown and King Charles should be prosecuted for “genocide”.
She also said a treaty with Indigenous Australians “must be central” in any move towards a republic.
She said First Nations Australians should play a key role in rewriting the Constitution, and a charter of rights should be established to enshrine the universal declaration of human rights and the United Nations declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples.
“There’s unfinished business that we need to resolve before this country can become a republic,” she said.
“This must happen through Treaty. We can move towards a Treaty Republic now. The two processes are not opposed, they’re complimentary.”
“As First Peoples, we never ceded our sovereignty over this land. The Crown invaded this country, has not sought treaty with First Peoples, and committed a genocide of our people. King Charles is not the legitimate Sovereign of these lands.”
Abbott blasts Thorpe outburst
Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott has blasted Senator Thorpe’s outburst, labelling it “political exhibitionism”.
Speaking with The Australian after the shock interruption, Mr Abbott said “it’s unfortunate political exhibitionism, that’s all I’d say”.
Mr Abbott, who served as Australia’s 28th prime minister from 2013 to 2015, is a staunch monarchist and helped spearhead the defeat of the 1999 republic referendum.
Some contemporary parliamentarians are also beginning to express anger at Senator Thorpe’s behaviour, with UAP Senator Ralph Babet demanding she “apologise” to the King and Queen.
“To show such utter disrespect to King Charles, who has travelled to Australia, despite ongoing cancer treatment, is disgusting,” he said.
“Senator Thorpe has disgraced not only herself and the Australian parliament, but every Australian man, woman and child.
“Senator Thorpe demanded an apology from King Charles, I’d say it’s King Charles and the Australian people that should be demanding an apology from Senator Thorpe.”
In a furious statement, the Australian Monarchist League called on Senator Thorpe to resign from parliament.
“Senator Thorpe should step down with immediate effect,” national chairman Philip Benwell said.
“The Australian Monarchist League unequivocally condemns the ill-considered behaviour of this isolated senator.
“Her childish demonstration has done nothing to diminish the gratitude and pride that millions of Australians have for our country, its history, its peoples and its sound system of governance.
“Should she not resign, the League expects Senator Thorpe will be referred to the President of the Senate and that her misconduct will be addressed in accordance with what is obvious and prevailing public sentiment.”
‘The warbling of the magpie’: King Charles remembers 60 years in Australia
In his address to the Great Hall, King Charles spoke at length of his great affection for Australia and the long association he has had with the country since first arriving as a 17-year-old boy in 1966.
“Every time I returned to the sunburnt country, I am always moved by the hauntingly evocative cries of the Kookaburras, the screeching of the gallah and the Magpie,” he said.
“Over six decades since my first visit, I have, of course, witnessed both continuity and great change. It is worth reflecting that Australia’s unique character has endured and also evolved and that Australia has become a stronger nation as a result of becoming one of the most multicultural on earth.”
In a recollection that draw laughter from the audience, the King spoke of the unique education he had received in parts of remote Australia.
“Ladies and gentlemen, what an education it was,” he said.
“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 around Mount Bulla.
“All I can say is that 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.”
King Charles praised Australia’s leadership on climate change, its outward-looking character and how Australians “battle on” through hardship, referencing his memories of the 2019 and 2020 Black Summer bushfires and the floods of 2022 and 2023.
“Amid such overwhelming challenges, I have always been deeply impressed by the extraordinary bravery and resilience of those who look up, look out and in that most Australian way, battle on,” he said.
“The way for instance in which firefighters, police, emergency services, defence personnel and many thousands of volunteers risk their lives to stand by their mates, neighbours and strangers. Not to mention livestock property, represents to me the essence of the Australian character.”
‘It’s a nice spot’: King’s request
The King took a detailed tour through the extensive banksia display at the National Botanical Gardens.
He listened intently to his guides as he perused the carefully designed gardens of the uniquely Australian plants.
But one lucky student was left absolutely smitten after having a chat with the King while showing him an array of native Australian flora laid out on a table.
Leo Turner, 12, shifted the conversation to sport, asking the King if he had heard of AFL.
“Yes, I’ve heard of it,” the King said.
“What’s your favorite sport?” Leo asked.
“I can’t do much now. Too many injuries. I used to sit on a horse,” the King, who played polo for years, replied before continuing on with his tour of the gardens.
Their majesties were also led along the boardwalk through the Rainforest Gully, with the King visibly moved as he inspected the towering canopy.
After climbing a rocky set of steps, the King and Queen planted a water gum to mark their visit to the gardens, which hold the largest collection of Australian plants in the world.
Queen Camilla poured water onto the sapling’s base as the King shovelled soil.
“It’s a nice spot,” the King said.
“Will you send me a photograph when it gets bigger?” he asked horticulture manager Janine Baines.
“I certainly will,” she replied.
The trip to the gardens was the royals’ final engagement for the day.
They will head back to Sydney ahead of another busy schedule on Tuesday.
King plants another tree at Yarralumla
The King and Queen planted two snow gum eucalyptus trees in the gardens of Government House after the King’s meetings with Mr Albanese and Mr Dutton.
Queen Camilla separately met the founder and beneficiaries of a charity platform that is one of her patronages.
GIVIT was founded in 2009 by Juliette Wright to offer an online platform that connects donors wishing to give money, time or goods with the charities that need them.
It has helped to co-ordinate disaster recovery efforts including for the 2011 Queensland floods, 2020 Black Summer bushfires and 2021 NSW floods.
Queen Camilla has been a patron of GIVIT since 2020 and also a practical supporter – she donated towards school uniforms and supplies for children in bushfire-affected areas during Black Summer.
The Queen met Ms Wright and GIVIT chief executive Chris Staines along with some staff and volunteers.
They met in the Banksia Centre at the Australian National Botanic Gardens, which was opened in 1982 and then again in 2020 by former prime minister Malcolm Fraser’s wife Tamie.
“Your attention on us is going to help donations flow,” Ms Wright said.
“You were so tiny in 2020,” the Queen replied, recalling when she first got in touch with Givit. Ms Wright said the operation had been based at her dining table at that time.
“I’m so glad I’ve been able to see you in person not just looking at you on a screen. It’s never the same as face-to-face,” the Queen said.
GIVIT staff explained to her their programs in disaster recovery and also supporting domestic violence services.
The Queen also met two of the organisations the platform works with: Fearless Women’s chief executive Glenda Stevens and Eurobodalla mayor Mathew Hatcher, who founded the Black Summer bushfire recovery group South Coast Donations Logistics Team.
Touching Down at Canberra Airport
King Charles and Queen Camilla landed in the nation’s capital to the cheers of schoolchildren for a jam-packed day of events.
The King and Queen left Sydney’s Admiralty House bound for Canberra in the morning and touched down in the capital just after 12pm.
At the airport, schoolchildren gathered to welcome the royal couple, with some of the kids dancing and laughing in anticipation.
The kids were given earplugs and little flags to wave.
Defence Minister Richard Marles and Indigenous Elder Aunty Serena Williams greeted the royal pair after they stepped off the plane.
The King and Queen laid a wreath at the Australian War Memorial and met with members of the public later on Monday.
A mass of royal fans flocked to the memorial to welcome their majesties, hoping to catch a glimpse and perhaps even snap a photo of the historic visit.
At the Australian War Memorial
The King and Queen arrived at the Australian War Memorial about 12.15pm, where they were greeted by Governor-General Sam Mostyn and her partner Simeon Beckett.
About a thousand onlookers cheered as they arrived.
In sombre scenes, the King and Queen laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Australian Soldier, and stood quietly as the Last Post played.
Kim Beazley, current chair of the Australian War Memorial, is now leading the royal couple along Roll of Honour.
The King and Queen both placed poppies on the wall.
The pair then worked a rope line outside the Memorial, shaking hands and chatting with hundreds of elated Aussies.
An alpaca was also on scene to welcome the royal pair.
The royal couple then spent more than 30 minutes talking to the gathered crowd.
The King looked dapper in a sharp blue suit and sunglasses and the Queen wore a white silk crepe court dress by Anna Valentine, diamond and pearl brooch worn previously by Queen Elizabeth II and the Queen Mother.
Shouts of “God Save the King” could be heard from the crowd.
Among those on hand to welcome the King and Queen was 94-year-old Evelyn Botha who as a schoolgirl presented a bouquet of roses to Princess Margaret – the King’s aunt – during a visit to her homeland of Scotland.
A few years later, Evelyn’s sister Olga presented a similar bouquet to the then Princess Elizabeth.
Evelyn, born in the Scottish town of Perth, has only been in Australia for four months.
She had been in Queensland until Saturday, flying down to see the King and Queen before moving to nearby Goulburn.
Another in the crowd was Fremantle-based Cliff Chapman.
Sporting a kilt and a seal-skin sporran, Mr Chapman said he was on holiday and decided to stand in the Canberra sunshine to catch a glimpse of the King and Queen.
Asked why he was the only person in the crowd wearing a kilt, he said: “I thought it would stand out a bit.”
One creature to stand out was Hephner the alpaca, well known in Canberra for his charity work.
Wearing his own small crown, King Charles seemed surprised to be eye-level with the white 9-year-old animal.
The Canberra heat hit some of the wellwishers.
An ambulance crew was called to help an elderly woman who sat down after feeling unwell.
She had been in a prime position on the official Crowe line that is expected to meet the royal pair.
The streets were closed throughout the city amid heightened security around the visit, and people wishing to see the King and Queen were advised to leave plenty of time for travel.
The King and Queen moved from the Memorial towards Parliament House for a ceremonial welcome.
They stopped halfway down the promenade to listen to a Didgeridoo at the For our Country pavilion, which salutes the sacrifices of Australia’s Indigenous servicemen and women.
The King and Queen shook hands with the Didgeridoo player, a serviceman, and chatted with him in the sun.
They then moved to meet with more onlookers who were positioned near the pavilion.
Parliament House
Australian troops and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese gathered to welcome the royal couple at the nation’s centre of power.
Cannon fire echoed out across the capital as the King and Queen received a 21-gun salute and a guard honour just after 1pm.
A reception hosted by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his fiancee Jodie Haydon took place at Aussies Cafe inside Parliament House’s Great Hall.
A crowd of government, opposition and independent MPs squeezed into Parliament’s Great Hall for the reception, rubbing shoulders with religious leaders, military brass and foreign dignitaries.
Australian Olympian Jess Fox was also in the Great Hall.
The thuds of the 21-gun salute happening on the forecourt sent waves through the floor as they waited in near silence to receive the King and Queen.
They were welcomed into the Great Hall with trumpets and a didgeridoo.
The anthem was also sung in English and the local Indigenous language
Later in the afternoon, the royal couple parted ways for separate engagements.
The King met with Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and visited the national science agency’s National Bushfire Research Centre to meet firefighters and scientists.
Meanwhile, the Queen attended an event for domestic violence survivors.
Their majesties rounded off the visit with a trip to the Australian National Botanic Gardens, before heading back to Sydney.
King Charles’ visit is the first by a reigning monarch in 13 years, and the first ever visit by a reigning king.
The King meets with a Navy veteran
Hundreds of Canberrans and visitors greeted the King and Queen as they departed Parliament House.
Some onlookers lined the sloping laws up to the roof of the building.
King Charles shook hands with admirers around the crowd, joking about having gin and tonics with one woman and receiving flowers from others.
The King wore gold aviator sunglasses.
One group of elderly visitors wore tiaras and held signs reading “King Charles, we love you”.
Navy veteran and Canberra local Nick Braden spoke to the King about his military service.
“He asked if I was in the Defence Force,” Mr Braden said. “I told him ‘in the Navy, of course’ because he was in the Navy himself.
“He said: ‘Fantastic. I hope they’ve given you a good pension’.”
Mr Braden was a member of the Royal Australian Navy from 1989 until 2001.
“It’s the second time I’ve met him,” he said.
“I met him first in 1990 in Hong Kong, at the British Naval Base there. I met the Queen as well.”
Not all fanfare
Not everyone is enthused about the royal tour, with Australia’s republicans saying it is time to farewell the monarchy, and Indigenous rights groups lamenting it as a reminder of Australia’s dark colonial past.
Among those not joining in the fanfare is Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi, who said on Monday “the monarchy symbolises an era that should be left behind for good, not celebrated.”
“It will come as no surprise that I will not be participating in any pomp and ceremony celebrating the monarchy, but I’d be happy to go to the airport to wish them a final goodbye in the hope that this is the last time the crown visits this country as rulers,” she said.
“Preserving the British monarchy is to preserve white supremacy and the systemic racist structures that were built by the Empire and persist today.”
Placard-brandishing protesters gathered and royalists faced off near St Thomas’ in North Sydney ahead of the service attended by the King and Queen on Sunday.
Pro-Palestine protesters and Indigenous rights activists unfurled Banners reading “decolonise” and “empire built on genocide”.
There were also chants of “Always Was, Always Will be, Aboriginal Land.”
In response to a request to meet from the Australian Republican Movement earlier this year, the King said the decision to become a republic rested with the Australian people.
It has been 25 years since Australia last held a vote on becoming a republic.
Originally published as King Charles and Queen Camilla tour Canberra
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