A reception of King Charles III and Queen Camilla in the Parliament House in Canberra has been interrupted by an obscene rant from an indigenous Australian lawmaker.
After the British monarch finished his address to the gathering on Monday, independent Senator Lidia Thorpe stepped forward and confronted him.
“You committed genocide against our people. Give us our land back. Give us back what you stole from us: Our bones, our skulls, our babies, our people. You destroyed our land,” she shouted.
The lawmaker, who was wearing a native fur cloak, demanded that a treaty be agreed with First Nations peoples. Australia remains one the few countries in the British Commonwealth that has not signed an agreement between the state and the indigenous peoples. “Give us a treaty, we want a treaty in this country,” she said.