Indigenous Australian Senator, Lidia Thorpe, referred to Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II a colonizer while taking the oath of office in Parliament. She swore allegiance reluctantly.
The 96-year-old English Queen is the head of state of Australia. Thorpe resentfully swore allegiance to the queen by raising her right fist in a Black Power salute as a mark of protest, reported Indian media publication India Today.
Senator Thorpe said, “I sovereign, Lidia Thorpe, do solemnly and sincerely swear that I will be faithful and I bear true allegiance to the colonizing Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.”
Qatar-based media house Al Jazeera posted the video on their official twitter handle.
This Indigenous Australian senator referred to Britain's Queen Elizabeth as a coloniser, when she was taking her oath of office in the Senate ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/4QjCO4dYSv
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) August 1, 2022
Sue Lines, the chamber’s president reprimanded her saying, “Senator Thorpe, Senator Thorpe, you are required to recite the oath as printed on the card.”
The senator retook her oath of allegiance in the Senate after prefixing the Queen as a “coloniser”.
Sovereignty never ceded. https://t.co/OowLrlUApy
— Senator Lidia Thorpe (@SenatorThorpe) August 1, 2022
After reciting the pledge as required, Thorpe posted a tweet saying, “Sovereignty never ceded.”
Australia was a British colony for over 100 years. During the period, thousands of native Australians were killed and communities were displaced wholesale. The country gained de facto independence in 1901, but has never become a fully-fledged republic, reported India Today.
According to British publication Guardian, under the Australian constitution all senators and MPs must swear an allegiance to the Queen and her heirs and successors before sitting in parliament. The provision cannot be changed without a referendum.
The assistant minister for the republic, Matt Thistlethwaite, last week told reporters that swearing allegiance to the Queen was “archaic and ridiculous”.
“It does not represent the Australia we live in and it’s further evidence of why we need to begin discussing becoming a republic with our own head of state,” he said. “We are no longer British.”
