Australian Senator calls Queen Elizabeth a ‘Colonizer’
Lidia Thorpe lifted her right fist as she read an oath to serve Queen Elizabeth, who is still Australia’s head of state.
An Australian senator referred to Queen Elizabeth as a colonizer while reciting an oath of fealty to the monarch, who remains Australia’s head of state.
Lidia Thrope, the first Aboriginal Australian senator from Victoria of DjabWurrung, Gunnai, and Gunditjmara heritage, was sworn in in Australia’s Parliament House on Monday. She was requested to pronounce the conventional oath of office while raising her right fist in the air.
“I, royal Lidia Thorpe, earnestly and sincerely affirm and vow that I shall be devoted to the colonizing Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II,” Thorpe stated before being stopped off by Senate President Sue Lines and complaints from others.
One senator said, “You’re not a senator if you don’t do it properly.”
Thorpe also turned around to tell someone, “You’ve got to have some respect.”
Lines asked Thorpe to repeat the oath “as printed on the card,” which she did while holding up her fist.
Thorpe later tweeted:
Thorpe’s party, the Australian Greens party, says on its website, “The continued legacy of colonialism has not yet fully recognized the sovereignty of our First Nations peoples across the entire continent of Australia. This is a wrong that must be made right. Endemic racism, oppressive laws and policies, misunderstanding, ignorance, and the lack of knowledge and education have meant that First Nations peoples have generationally been subject to policies and legislation that have impoverished many lives. At present, many still live in poverty and disadvantage, without the same rights and services that other Australians enjoy. This must be changed so that future generations of First Nations children can dream of better things.”
Despite the fact that Indigenous Australians are one of the oldest civilizations on the planet, the British government dubbed the country “terra nullius” — meaning “land of no one” — in an attempt to justify British possession.
For more than a century, Australia was a British colony, established as a penal colony where Indigenous peoples were displaced or slaughtered. Although the country gained independence in 1901, it became a member of the Commonwealth, a political organization of 56 member states led by Queen Elizabeth.
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Several Commonwealth countries have expressed their intention to become independent in recent months. It was a key theme of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s March Caribbean vacation, during which they saw anti-colonial rallies in Belize, Jamaica, and The Bahamas.
“Our journey provided an opportunity to think, and we learned so much,” Prince William remarked in June as he celebrated Windrush Day, praising the British-Caribbean communities’ contributions. “Not only about the various concerns that are most important to the people of the region, but also about how the past weighs heavily on the present.”
In a statement issued at the conclusion of their March tour, William mused about the future governance of Caribbean nations, saying, “I know that this journey has pushed issues about the past and the future to the forefront of my mind. That future is up to the people of Belize, Jamaica, and The Bahamas.”
He went on, “Catherine and I are dedicated to helping others. That is not telling people what to do in our opinion. It is about helping and supporting them in whatever way they see appropriate, using the platform we are fortunate to have.”
In November, Barbados severed relations with the Queen and elected its first president.