King Charles III faced fresh protests from indigenous activists during his official visit to Australia, a day after a senator accused him of “genocide.”
Two more incidents took place Tuesday as the British monarch — who remains Australia’s head of state — undertakes his first tour of the country since becoming king. Australia has long debated whether to break from the monarchy and become a republic, while the rights afforded to indigenous people in Australia remain a live issue.
After a ceremony at the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence in Sydney Tuesday, one elder told the British monarch their goal was “sovereignty,” and referenced the prior protest in Australia’s Parliament House.
Elder Alan Murray told the king: “We’ve got stories to tell, and I think you witnessed that story yesterday in Canberra, but the story is unwavering and we’ve got a long way to achieve what we want to achieve and that’s our own sovereignty.”
According to Sky News, Murray, from the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council, said afterwards: “The Union Jack was put on our land without our consent. We’ve been ignored. We can’t rest on our laurels.”
An Aboriginal man named Wayne “Coco” Wharton was also arrested near the Sydney Opera House after protesting against Charles and Queen Camilla’s visit to Australia. Wharton called Charles a “king of thieves and a king of liars” as he tried to serve a notice for his arrest — before being led away by police.
It comes after Lidia Thorpe, an Aboriginal independent senator for Victoria, heckled Charles after he’d finished giving a speech in Parliament House Monday. “This is not your land, you are not my king!” she said.
The flurry of incidents have taken place during Charles’ first visit to Australia since ascending to the throne in 2022, the first visit to the country by a British monarch since 2011.
Australia, a former collection of British colonies, federated and became an independent nation in 1901 but remains a constitutional monarchy with Charles as its head of state — though in practice his rule is purely symbolic, with no role in Australian day-to-day governance.
Buckingham Palace officials writing on behalf of Charles said earlier this month that “whether Australia becomes a republic” is a “matter for the Australian public to decide.”
Seb Starcevic contributed reporting.
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