Aboriginal lawmaker who heckled King Charles censured

CANBERRA

(FILES) Australian Senator Lidia Thorpe disrupts proceedings as Britain's King Charles III and Queen Camilla attend a Parliamentary reception at Parliament House in Canberra on Oct. 21, 2024.

An Indigenous lawmaker was censured by Australia's parliament on Monday for heckling King Charles about the legacy of European settlement during his October visit to Canberra.

The censure carries no practical punishment but passed the Senate on Monday with 46 votes in favour and 12 against.

Government leader in the Senate Penny Wong said Thorpe’s outburst sought to “incite outrage and grievance.”

“This is part of a trend that we do see internationally which, quite frankly, we do not need here in Australia,” Wong told the Senate.

During the king's visit to parliament, independent senator Lidia Thorpe screamed: "This is not your land, you are not my king," decrying what she said was a "genocide" of Indigenous Australians by European settlers.

She had also turned her back on the king as dignitaries stood for the national anthem.

The censure motion condemned Thorpe's actions as "disruptive and disrespectful".

Thorpe told national broadcaster ABC she was disappointed with Monday’s outcome, adding that she would "do it again" if the monarch returned.

"I will resist colonisation in this country. I swear my allegiance to the real sovereigns of these lands: First Peoples are the real sovereigns," she said.

A censure motion is a symbolic gesture when parliamentarians are dissatisfied with the behaviour of one of their own.