Immediately after Monday’s Senate vote, Thorpe told reporters he was denied the right to respond to Congress due to the flight delay.
“The British Crown has committed heinous crimes against this country’s first people,” the independent senator said. “I will not remain silent.”
Her protest last month sparked immediate outrage not only from political quarters but also from some prominent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders.
But it has also been praised by some activists who argue that it highlights the plight of Australia’s First Peoples, who endured colonial violence and still suffer severe disadvantages in health, wealth, education and life expectancy compared to non-Indigenous Australians.
Despite the protests, the king received a warm welcome from Australian crowds during his five-day tour with Queen Camilla.
“You have shown great respect for Australians even as we debate our constitutional future and the nature of our relationship with the King. “Nothing stands still,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in an official address.
Thorpe has a history of Indigenous activism that has occasionally made international headlines.
At a 2022 oath ceremony, Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung women referred to Queen Elizabeth II as a colonizer and were asked to take the oath again after being criticized.
Last year, Australia flatly rejected a proposal to grant constitutional recognition to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and allow them to establish a body to advise parliament on issues affecting their communities.
The referendum, known as The Voice, was mired in a bruising campaign, leaving uncertainty about future policy as both political sides tried to move forward quickly.
Data shows that while a majority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people voted ‘yes’, support was not unanimous. Thorpe himself was a leading ‘no’ campaigner, criticizing the bill as formalistic.
