One of the most recent incidents was in the Parliament House of Australia between Aboriginal Australian Senator Lidia Thorpe and King Charles III, who had been invited to make a speech. She heckled the king by saying “not my King” and “this is not your land.” The outburst renewed the debate about Australia’s colonial past and the issues faced by Indigenous Australians, particularly in the wake of the failed referendum to introduce constitutional recognition for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
This has highlighted a schism in Indigenous communities as to how best to achieve self-determination and representation. A huge majority of the Indigenous people voted for the proposition of recognition in the referendum; however, not everyone who voted was a supporter of the proposition. Thorpe was scathing about the measure, which he saw as tokenistic and merely a shallow step forward.
Larissa Baldwin-Roberts, an activist, pointed out that the failure of the referendum humiliated and rejected many Indigenous Australians and worsened the feeling of marginalization. She recalled that the misinformation campaign provoked an increase in racist speeches and made the reconciliation climate more difficult. According to Baldwin-Roberts, new tactics should be used to challenge these issues, arguing that traditional reconciliation approaches, such as polite conversation, have been futile.
Reactions to Thorpe’s protest were mixed. Some of those who claim that Daniel Williams himself identifies as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander supported her efforts saying that what she had done was needed because there should be disruption within the status quo. Then there were others like the former senator Nova Peris who said that her efforts had been embarrassing and not quite respectable.
She maintained that she does not think the vast number of Aboriginal Australians were acting or reacting in the way in which she was at that moment. Professor Tom Calma, who was also a witness, cautioned that Thorpe’s strategy might annoy most Australians, who don’t know how colonization has impacted their lives and the country at large.
This debate reflects a wider discussion on how Indigenous Australians can be recognized and granted rights in a country that has yet to sign treaties with its first inhabitants. As Australia approaches elections, political leaders are keen to move beyond the contentious debate over the referendum, and many questions remain regarding future policies and Indigenous rights.
It therefore serves as the best illustration of deep fissures within Australian society in recognition, justice, and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. Baldwin-Roberts thus realized that it can only be bridged by honest, frank dialogue and reckoning with this nation’s past.
