During King Charles’ visit to Parliament House today, Senator Lidia Thorpe was prevented from handing the King a notice of complicity in Aboriginal Genocide according to the Statute of the International Criminal Court 1998. She was removed from the parliamentary reception after pointing out that the Crown stole from First Peoples.
The Senator’s uncle, Robert Thorpe, issued the same notice to the International Criminal Court on October 13 this year, requesting King Charles be charged and prosecuted for Genocide.
You can view the notice of complicity here.
This comes after Uncle Wayne 'Coco' Wharton earlier in the day tried to hand the same notice to King Charles at a protest to ‘Unwelcome the King’ at the Australian War Memorial, but was prevented from doing so by AFP, later being arrested for this peaceful action.
Senator Thorpe's Genocide Bill
In Australia, it is virtually impossible to pursue cases of Genocide due to what’s known as the Attorney General’s fiat in the Criminal Code, which requires the Attorney-General to provide consent to atrocity crime cases, which include Genocide, Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes, to be lodged in the courts.
This is a de-facto veto right and allows Attorney-General to prevent the government or the Crown being held accountable for such crimes.
This fiat exists mainly in settler colonies such as Australia, the US, Canada and New Zealand, to prevent their governments from being pursued for the crimes they have committed and continue to commit against First Peoples.
At the start of the year, Senator Thorpe introduced a Bill into parliament which would remove this fiat and the AG's ability to interfere in the prosecution of atrocity crimes. The Bill will be debated in the last sitting week of the year.
Quotes attributable to Lidia Thorpe, Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung independent Victorian Senator:
“Today I intended to hand King Charles a notice of complicity in the Genocide of the First Peoples of this county. Krauatungalung Elder, Uncle Robbie Thorpe, issued this notice to the International Criminal Court on October 13 this year, requesting King Charles be charged and prosecuted for genocide.
“The visit by the so-called King should be an occasion of Truth-telling about the true history of this country.
"The colonial state has been built on the continuing Genocide on First Peoples.
"Today I was silenced and removed from the parliamentary reception when pointing out that the Crown stole from First Peoples.
“The truth is, this colony is built on stolen land, stolen wealth and stolen lives.
“The British Crown committed heinous crimes against the First Peoples of this country. These crimes include war crimes, crimes against humanity and failure to prevent genocide. There has been no justice for these crimes. The Crown must be held accountable.
“Today, the AFP threatened to arrest me for wearing a t-shirt that said ‘Stolen Land, Stolen Lives, Stolen Wealth’. I was at a rally to call out the crimes committed by the Crown. This is a clear attack on free speech and expression, at the war memorial of all places.
“Sovereign Elder Uncle Coco was arrested by AFP today for peacefully standing up against the Genocide on his people and all First Peoples of this continent.
“This colonial government will punish our Elders for protesting against a Genocide but refuse to hold the perpetrators to account.
“Today we call for justice, an end to this ongoing genocide, for Treaty and a republic. We want to be able to live in peace and finally come together as a nation.”