King Charles protest: Australian Senate censures Indigenous member

Australia's Senate censures Indigenous senator for protest against King Charles, highlighting ongoing struggles with reconciliation and representation.

Australia's Senate on Monday (November 18, 2024) censured an Indigenous woman parliamentarian over her protest against King Charles during his visit to the parliament last month when she accused the British monarch of genocide.

Independent senator and Indigenous activist Lidia Thorpe shouted that she did not accept Charles' sovereignty over Australia moments after he delivered a speech in which he paid his "respects to the traditional owners of the lands".

Both the ruling Labor party and the opposition coalition supported the censure motion, which will not have any legal or constitutional consequences and is only considered a symbolic move by lawmakers when they disagree on a member's conduct.

Ms. Thorpe's protest was disruptive and she did not respect the democratic institutions, the motion said.

The British monarch is Australia's head of state.

Ms. Thorpe, a DjabWurrung Gunnai Gunditjmara woman, called the members who supported the motion "hypocrites" and said the censure process was a ploy to divert attention away from the real issues affecting Australia.

"I'll do it again, and I'll do it every time," Ms. Thorpe shouted in parliament when Simon Birmingham, the opposition leader in the Senate, was making his comments on the motion.