Indigenous senator Lidia Thorpe was forced to redo her oath of allegiance after she called the Queen ‘colonising’. The Senate president interjected while others voiced their criticism over her alteration to the oath.
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'Colonising monarch'
Lidia Thorpe unwillingly took the oath of office on Monday as a newly elected member, after her remark about Her majesty was dealt with criticism. Australia was a British colony for more than 100 years before becoming its own nation in 1901 and subsequently a part of the Commonwealth.
As such, Australia's head of state is the 96-year-old Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. People magazine confirms that Lidia Thorpe resentfully swore allegiance by raising her right fist in a Black Power salute. The senator approached the floor with her right fist raised in the air and was asked to recite the oath written on the piece of paper in front of her.
While reciting the oath, Thorpe made an improvisation of her own and added the word ‘colonising’ before Her Majesty’s name and said:
I sovereign, Lidia Thorpe, do solemnly and sincerely swear that I will be faithful and I bear true allegiance to the colonising Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
She was immediately cut off by Senate President Sue Lines and others objected, with one even saying:
You're not a senator if you don't do it properly.
Who is Lidia Thorpe?
Lidia Thorpe is the first Aboriginal Australian senator from Victoria. She is of DjabWurrung, Gunnai, and Gunditjmara descent. Thorpe is a representative of the Australian Greens and as of August 2022, she represents the state of Victoria as a senator in the federal parliament.
Thrope’s party–The Australian Greens party–are very vocal about the ‘continued legacy of colonialism.’ After the ceremony ended, Thrope tweeted:
Sovereignty never ceded.
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