An Australian senator has defended heckling King Charles and accusing him of genocide after he addressed Australia’s Parliament House, telling the BBC that “he’s not of this land”.
Lidia Thorpe, an Aboriginal Australian woman, interrupted the ceremony in the capital of Canberra by shouting for about a minute before she was escorted away by security.
After making claims of genocide against “our people”, she could be heard yelling: “This is not your land, you are not my King.”
But Aboriginal elder Aunty Violet Sheridan, who had earlier welcomed the King and Queen, said Thorpe’s protest was “disrespectful”, adding: “She does not speak for me.”
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The ceremony concluded without any reference to the incident, and the royal couple proceeded to meet hundreds of people who had waited outside to greet them.
After her protest, Thorpe told the BBC she had wanted to send a “clear message” to the King.
Thorpe, who is an independent senator from…