Australian lawmaker who heckled King Charles censured

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2024-11-19T05:24:57+05:00 NEWS WIRE

SYDNEY  -  An Indigenous lawmaker was censured by Australia’s parliament 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 Monday with 46 votes in favour and 12 against. 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 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”. It also said the Senate no longer regarded it “appropriate” for Thorpe to be a member of any delegation “during the life of this parliament”. A censure motion is a symbolic gesture when parliamentarians are dissatisfied with the behaviour of one of their own. Thorpe  -- sporting a gold chain with ‘Not My King’ around her neck -- said she did not “give a damn” about the censure and would most likely use the document as “kindling” later in the week. She told national broadcaster ABC 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.

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