Cover The Independent Senator for Victoria received widespread attention for yelling at King Charles after the monarch’s speech at Australia’s Parliament House this week (Photo: Senator Lidia Thorpe/Facebook)
The Independent Senator for Victoria received widespread attention for yelling at King Charles after the monarch’s speech at Australia’s Parliament House this week (Photo: Senator Lidia Thorpe/Facebook)
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The Independent Senator for Victoria has received widespread attention for yelling, “You are not my King” at King Charles after the monarch’s speech at Australia’s Parliament House this week
As King Charles III wrapped up his speech to the Australian Parliament on October 21, indigenous senator Lidia Thorpe interrupted with an outburst that has since gone viral on news and social media, shouting, “You are not my King. Give us our land back, give us what you stole!” before being removed from the Great Hall by security. Her bold protest thrust Australia’s simmering colonial history into the spotlight again.
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As a Gunnai, Gunditjmara, and Djab Wurrung woman, Thorpe has deep roots in First Nations advocacy. The 51-year-old senator became the first Victorian Aboriginal woman elected to the Federal Senate, representing her community and the Blak Sovereign Movement–comprising a community of First Nations elders, activists, academics and community workers who have condemned colonisation and its effects on First Nations people in Australia. Her fierce outspokenness is a family legacy—growing up in Melbourne’s inner north, she was raised by working-class activists and honed her voice to call out injustice experienced by her community.
Thorpe has long championed issues affecting Australia’s Indigenous people and beyond. Her political career began in Victoria’s parliament, where she represented Aboriginal affairs, mental health, and public health as the Victorian Greens member of parliament for Northcote.
As a single mother of three, Thorpe experienced firsthand the need for public housing and environmental justice. She is a vocal critic of the deaths of Aboriginal people in custody and a passionate defender of women’s rights and children’s protection, with stints at institutions like Amnesty International and the National Aboriginal Day Observance Committee Victoria.
Above Thorpe in a 2024 visit to Binybara, Lee Point, where the Larrakia people have lived for several generations (Photo: Senator Lidia Thorpe/Facebook)
Thorpe in a 2024 visit to Binybara, Lee Point, where the Larrakia people have lived for several generations (Photo: Senator Lidia Thorpe/Facebook)
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Thorpe said in an interview with pop culture portal Junkee in May 2024: “The head of this country lives in another country—the King of England. That makes no sense whatsoever. And so as long as we’re under a colonial regime, they must continue their colonial project.”
As a Commonwealth country, Australia considers King Charles III as head of state.
No stranger to controversy, Thorp reportedly called the late Queen Elizabeth, Australia’s then head of state, a “coloniser” while being sworn into parliament after her re-election in 2022, gaining criticism from other senators.
While Thorpe has also been heavily criticised by fellow Aboriginal people and peers for her behaviour this week, many netizens have expressed admiration for her boldness to speak out. In an interview on ABC RN, Thorpe shared that she had previously written to the king to request a meeting and a respectful conversation about a treaty with the First Nations, but did not receive a response. She later added that protests like this were the only way to get attention for her cause.
Though she has talked openly about the need for younger politicians to make their voices heard and challenge older mindsets in government, Thorpe is making no apologies for her presence anytime soon. As she said in a Facebook post back in 2017:
“I’ve stood in front of bulldozers to stop our native forests being logged and fought for a better education for our kids so they won’t have to leave school at 14 like I did...Being Aboriginal is not all I am, but it’s the centre of who I am. I’m a mother, a business owner, a community leader and someone who believes in fighting for what’s right. I can’t separate my culture from my politics and I won’t apologise for it, it makes me a better representative for my electorate.”
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Previously contributing to Esquire Malaysia, Expat Lifestyle and Newsweek, Tania oversees digital stories across Tatler’s key content pillars, also leading the Front & Female platform exploring issues and topics affecting women today.
