Australian indigenous senator calls British Queen a ‘coloniser’ while taking oath
The swearing in ceremony for new senators in the Australian parliament became a topic of controversy when indigenous politician Lidia Thorpe called the Queen of England a coloniser during her oath of allegiance. “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 said.
The word “colonising” was not part of the oath and she had to repeat the process once again. She also faced criticism from her parliamentary colleagues who were not happy with the decision.
Thorpe was not present for the initial swearing-in ceremony which took place last week and she was among a few politicians who were doing the oath on Monday. However, Thorpe was not happy with the existing oath and even after doing it, she was heard saying “none of us like it”.
Since the incident, a lot of controversy has also ensued about the validity of the swearing-in process due to the statement made by the senator.
The opposition have cited section 42 of the Australian constitution which states that “every senator and every member of the House of Representatives shall before taking his or her seat make and subscribe” the oath.
However, Prof Anne Twomey, a constitutional expert at the University of Sydney, has said that it will depend on the parliament whether they want to accept the oath or not.
“As this is an internal proceeding in the Parliament, I doubt whether it would be ‘justiciable’ – i.e. I don’t think it is something that could be enforced before a court,” she told Guardian Australia.
“It is a matter for the presiding officers of the Houses to enforce section 42.”
