An independent Australian senator has shouted at King Charles III that “you are not my king” shortly after he finished speaking in Parliament House on the second day of the country’s official business.
Lidia Thorpe interrupted the ceremony in Canberra by shouting loudly for about a minute before being escorted off stage by security.
King Charles had just left the podium to return to his seat next to Queen Camilla on stage when Ms Thorpe began shouting loudly and approached the stage from the back of the hall.
After Ms Thorpe made allegations of genocide against “our people”, she can be heard shouting: “This is not your land, you are not my king.”
The ceremony continued and then ended without any mention of the incident. The royal couple continued to meet the public who were waiting outside to greet them.
Under the blazing Canberra sun, they queued all morning outside Parliament House, waving small Australian flags.
Jamie Karpas, 20, said he had no idea the royal couple would be arriving on Monday, adding: “As someone who saw Harry and Meghan when they were here last time, I was very excited. I think the Royal Family is part of Australian culture. They have a big place in our lives.”
Meanwhile, CJ Adams, an Australian student at the Australian National University, said: “He’s the head of state of the British Empire, right – you should [take this opportunity] to experience it as much as you can while you’re in Canberra.”
A small group of protesters also gathered on the lawns in front of Parliament House.
The plane carrying King Charles and Queen Camila landed in Canberra earlier in the day and was greeted by politicians, schoolchildren and Indigenous Australian representative Aunty Serena Williams.
Australia is a Commonwealth nation, where King Charles is considered the head of state.
Ms Thorpe, an independent senator from Victoria and an Indigenous woman, has long campaigned for a treaty between the Australian government and the continent’s first inhabitants.
Australia is the only former British colony without such a treaty. Many Indigenous Australians and Torres Strait Islanders insist they have never ceded their sovereignty or land to the Crown.
There has been debate in Australia for decades about whether to end the monarchy and become a republic.
In 1999, the issue was put to a public referendum – the only way to change the constitution in Australia – but it was overwhelmingly rejected.
Polls show support for the move has grown since then, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who shook hands with King Charles III just before Ms Thorpe shouted, is a long-time republican.
However, Mr Albanese’s government has ruled out holding a second vote on the issue in the near future, after last year’s referendum on recognition of Indigenous Australians failed.
King Charles’s visit – while he is undergoing cancer treatment – is his first to Australia since succeeding his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
Due to health reasons, it is shorter than previous royal visits.
A more light-hearted moment came earlier in the morning when Charles stroked an alpaca wearing a miniature crown, as he stopped to chat with members of the public after visiting the war memorial in Canberra.
