An Australian senator rebuked this Monday Carlos III
about the legacy of British colonization in the countrywhere the monarch called for mobilization against climate change during a speech before Parliament in Canberra.
>> You may be interested in:Queen Camilla talks about the state of health of Charles III
The king, who announced eight months ago that he suffers from cancer, is on a nine-day visit to Australia, where he is head of state, and Samoa. This is his longest tour abroad since he was crowned in May 2023.
At the end of a speech before the Australian Parliament, Aboriginal senator Lidia Thorp questioned the monarch, shouting anti-colonial slogans at him. “Give us back our land! Give us what you stole from us!”the deputy launched into a diatribe that lasted almost a minute.
“This is not your land, you are not my king,” the independent legislator insisted before the 75-year-old sovereign, after citing the “genocide” of indigenous Australians at the hands of European settlers.
Australia was a British colony for more than a century, during which thousands of Aboriginal people were killed and entire communities displaced.
The country gained de facto independence in 1901, but never became a full-fledged republic. Carlos III is the head of state.
Earlier, the king had urged Australia, heavily dependent on the mining industry, to take a leading position in the fight against climate change. “Being good managers of the world is something that interests us all,” declared Charles III in his first speech before the Australian Chamber as head of state.
King Charles III in Australia
“The magnitude and ferocity” of natural disasters are accelerating in Australia, the monarch stressed, seeing in this phenomenon an “undoubted sign of climate change.”
“That’s why Australia’s international leadership in global efforts to protect our climate and biodiversity is vitally important,” he insisted.
The king has long been known for his environmental sensitivity, which sometimes borders on eccentricity. Thus, he transformed an Aston Martin DB6 so that it can run on ethanol made from leftover cheese and white wine, and claims that it speaks to plants so that they grow better.
Before his speech in Parliament, Charles laid a bouquet at the Memorial dedicated to the Australian victims of the two world wars and other conflicts. He also planned to visit a public scientific agency laboratory dedicated to the study of forest fires and the national botanical garden.
However, not many massive events are on the agenda, except for a giant barbecue in Sydney and an event at the city’s opera house, due to the king’s delicate state of health.
Chloe Pailthorpe and her children traveled to the capital from a nearby rural village in the hope of seeing the monarch. “I have been writing to members of the royal family since I was about ten years old,” he told the AFP news agency.
“My children have written to members of the royal family. We love what they do,” he added.
However, several prime ministers of Australian states did not attend the reception organized in Parliament in honor of the king, a possible indication that the British sovereign no longer has the influence he once had.
Although they are rather favorable to the monarchy, Australians today are no longer as enthusiastic about the crown as they were in 2011, when thousands of people took to the streets to greet Elizabeth II, mother of Charles III.
>> See also: Kate Middleton reappears after cancer treatment
Source: https://www.noticiascaracol.com/mundo/indigena-acusa-a-carlos-iii-de-genocidio-en-australia-no-es-su-tierra-usted-no-es-mi-rey-cb20
