To show their “profound disapproval” of her protest, Australian MPs agreed to punish an Aboriginal senator who heckled King Charles during his visit to Canberra last month.
In an attempt to draw attention to the effects of British colonization, Lidia Thorpe yelled “you are not my King” and “this is not your land” soon after the King’s speech in the Great Hall of Parliament.
In its censure, which was approved 46–12, the Senate called Thorpe’s behavior “disrespectful and disruptive” and recommended that she be barred from serving as a member of any delegation to the chamber.
A motion of censure has no legal or constitutional force behind it, but it is politically symbolic.
Thorpe informed reporters shortly after Monday’s Senate vote that she had been refused the opportunity to reply in the chamber.
