Indigenous Australian senator calls British Queen colonizer

Indigenous Australian Senator Lidia Thorpe on Monday referred to Britain's Queen Elizabeth II as a coloniser and swore allegiance reluctantly while taking the oath of office as the recently elected lawmaker. Greens 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

" After reciting the pledge as required, Thorpe posted a tweet saying, "Sovereignty never ceded."

Greens and First Nations senator Lidia Thorpe has had to redo her oath of allegiance in the Senate after prefixing the Queen as a "coloniser". Story via @AAPNewswire #auspol pic.twitter.com/OhpWTEZoU3

— Dominic Giannini (@domgiannini_) August 1, 2022

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. Several polls show most Australians are in favor of being a republic, but there is little agreement on how a head of state should be chosen. There was a row over whether the queen’s replacement would be chosen by members of parliament or the public.  The 96-year-old Queen is Australia's head of state and Thorpe resentfully swore allegiance to the queen by raising her right fist in a Black Power salute as a mark of protest.