Aboriginal Australian Senator Attacks 'Colonising' Queen at Swearing-In Ceremony
13:33 GMT 01.08.2022 (Updated: 13:42 GMT 01.08.2022)
© AP Photo / Rick Stevens / Wellwishers holding a portrait of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II wait for her arrival in Melbourne, Australia
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The British queen is also the head of state of several former UK colonies: Canada, Australia and New Zealand, along with nearby Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu, as well as seven states in the Caribbean. The first British colony in Australia was founded in Sydney in 1788.
An aboriginal Australian Greens senator accused Queen Elizabeth II of "colonizing" her country while she was sworn in.
Lidia Thorpe, the first aboriginal senator to be elected from the south-eastern state of Victoria, entered the senate chamber with her fist raised in a 'black power' salute to take her oath of office on Monday.
"I sovereign, Lidia Thorpe, do solemnly and sincerely swear that I will be faithful and I bear true allegiance to the colonizing Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II," Thorpe said, deviating from the standard text and prompting disquiet from fellow senators.
"The colonising Her Majesty": Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe made to redo the oath of allegiance after referring to the Queen as a coloniser.
— SBS News (@SBSNews) August 1, 2022
Read more here: https://t.co/yzYccXPxqj pic.twitter.com/NjPNkaHSkN
After restoring order, Senate President Sue Lines told Thorpe: "You are required to recite the path as printed on the card" and asking her to take it again.
The senator read the oath verbatim the second time — albeit in a mocking tone.
Labor Party Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called a referendum on establishing an indigenous peoples' assembly, dubbed the 'Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice'.
The Aussie Twitterati were divided in their response to Thorpe's protest.
Tweet criticising aboriginal Victoria State senator Lidia Thorpe for accusing Queen Elizabeth II of "colonising" her country
Good for Lidia Thorpe! https://t.co/yopM6HEdrF
— Tennyson.Sarah (@tennysonsarah1) August 1, 2022
The British queen is also the head of state of former colonies Canada, Australia and New Zealand, along with nearby Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu and seven states in the Caribbean.
While Australia has a strong republican movement, it lost in 1999, when citizens voted to retain the monarchy 55 to 45.
The first British colony in Australia was founded in modern-day Sydney in 1788, 138 years before the queen's birth.
