Summary

Australian senators censured Senator Lidia Thorpe for her outburst against King Charles III during his visit, calling him a colonizer and demanding land and reparations. Thorpe defended her actions, stating she would repeat them if Charles returned.

  • werefreeatlast@lemmy.world
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    29 minutes ago

    But before she did that I didn’t even know her name. Now I know of the great Lidia Thorpe. In Spanish Thorpe sounds like Torpe which means like careless goofy. But let me tell you, I was driving home from work Friday when I heard that woman roar.

    I mean she might could be like MTG, I don’t know anything about Australia. But one thing I know is that she’s part of my brown people. At least from that perspective I can totally understand her and her desire to prevent more damage and to instead try to lift her people.

    • Zess@lemmy.world
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      21 minutes ago

      She also called him a colonizer and said he committed genocide, both very stupid statements. Shit happened hundreds of years ago, he had nothing to do with it. If she wants reparations and land she should be asking the UK and Australian governments for it, not an elderly monarch. And now she’s gone and got herself censured, making her a pariah and reducing Aboriginal influence in parliament. This is nothing but a loss for her and the people she represents.

    • cygnus@lemmy.ca
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      12 hours ago

      She’s right, but outbursts like this are the equivalent of activists throwing paint at the Mona Lisa. It makes that side look petulant and doesn’t effect change. If she really wants land and reparations, did she really think this grandstanding was the way to accomplish that goal?

      • frezik@midwest.social
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        8 hours ago

        No, not the plastic sheeting in front of the Mona Lisa! It’ll take minutes for a janitor the come wipe that off.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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        12 hours ago

        I think she’s as fully aware as black and indigenous Americans are that she’ll never actually get what she’s owed, so she might as well tell the king that’s been forced on her people to fuck off.

        • Tyfud@lemmy.world
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          8 hours ago

          The news coverage on this was the point. Bringing awareness to her people’s situation.

        • frazorth@feddit.uk
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          11 hours ago

          Although its still too damn high, only 50% of British people believe the monarchy thats been forced on us is important.

          They are losing the popularity contest here too.

        • barsoap@lemm.ee
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          6 hours ago

          Noone’s forcing Charles on Australia. Aussies are generally in favour of becoming a republic, thing is they can’t agree on what kind of head of state they want so for the time being it’s gonna continue to be the British Monarch.

          There’s lots to be said about the failure of Australia to properly address indigenous concerns, literally nothing Charles can do about that but be a symbol to throw ire at to get some press coverage. He can’t even tell “his government” to deal with the issue, the thing he tells “his government” to do is whatever the government tells him to. They’re writing their own marching orders.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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            6 hours ago

            Noone’s forcing Charles on Australia.

            The aboriginals who ran the continent for tens of thousands of years before white people took over might disagree with you on that.

            • barsoap@lemm.ee
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              6 hours ago

              Last I checked Australia is independent, and last I checked I also said that Australia has to account for a lot of failures when it comes to addressing indigenous concerns.

              Nothing of which has anything to do with Charles who has literally zero power over the situation. I’m pretty much as republican as people can possibly be but let’s not blame on powerless monarchs what’s actually the fault of elected representatives. Gets into the way of holding them accountable.

              • stoly@lemmy.world
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                1 hour ago

                They are not independent. They are under the rule of the crown. 4-5 years ago the governor of Australia, who reports to the crown, dissolved parliament.

                • Not a replicant@lemmy.world
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                  44 minutes ago

                  The G-G dissolves parliament every time the Prime Minister (PM) advises them to do so. I think you don’t grok the situation here, constitutionally speaking.

                  1. The King (or Queen) of Australia has powers defined in our constitution. They can’t issue commands at will.
                  2. The King appoints the Governor-General (GG) on the advice of the PM
                  3. The King delegates their powers to the GG
                  4. The GG acts on the advice of the PM, to approve legislation (royal assent), and to dissolve parliament when the time comes. Also, awarding honors and some other non-political stuff. Head of state duties like greeting and hosting other heads of state.
                  5. The GG does not seek permission or even advice from the King. Delegation of powers doesn’t mean the GG may exercise those powers, it means they must exercise those powers. That’s an important difference.
                  6. There are reserve powers, “break glass only in emergency” powers. One of those is to sack the government. It’s happened once in living memory, in 1975, when the elected government couldn’t pass funding bills and the government was about to run out of money (sound familiar?). That’s one of the few triggers where the reserve powers can be used. They can’t be used for just anything. Sacking the government also means a full election, upper and lower house.
                  7. The GG doesn’t report to the crown (King or Queen) in the sense you mean. There’s no “list of things I did today” and the King then sends back an “approved” stamp.
                • barsoap@lemm.ee
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                  47 minutes ago

                  He dissolved parliament based on what rules written by whom, on whose orders?

                  Hint hint: Based on the Australian constitution, written by Australians, on the order (well, “advice”, same thing in this case) of the Australian Prime Minister.

              • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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                5 hours ago

                No one said he had any power.

                That doesn’t mean he’s deserving of the title of king over the people who’s land was taken from them. I’m not sure why you are insisting he is.

                • barsoap@lemm.ee
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                  5 hours ago

                  I’m not saying he deserves anything I’m saying he has no choice but to be the king, best he could do is abdicate but that only would put his son in the same position. It’s up to Australia to abolish the monarchy, not House Windsor.

      • NOT_RICK@lemmy.world
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        12 hours ago

        If it made Charles momentarily uncomfortable then that’s enough justification for me.

      • jwiggler@sh.itjust.works
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        11 hours ago

        I think the whole point of acts like you describe show how you (people) care more about a painting than the continual ravaging of life on this planet by those who seek wealth and power.

        What does the Mona Lisa matter when more and more of the worlds population is scrapping to survive under constant threat of environmental and economic collapse and war brought on by the people who host and visit such works of art.

        • cygnus@lemmy.ca
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          9 hours ago

          You’re right, that’s why thanks to those brave protesters, climate change is now a thing of the past! Oh, wait…

            • cygnus@lemmy.ca
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              8 hours ago

              What an extraordinarily stupid argument.

              Gee, thanks. We need people to actually do something tangible and useful, not teenage histrionics directed at completely irrelevant things. For example, I volunteer with a group that recently obtained protection for a large wetland in my area. That’s something that directly impacts climate change and biodiversity. I also volunteer with my local green party which has successfully passed several pieces of environmental protection legislation. What have you personally done to help other than whine online and throw paint at inanimate objects?

              • jwiggler@sh.itjust.works
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                8 hours ago

                Wow you’re so great! thanks to you, climate change is now a thing of the past! Oh, wait…

                (obviously, in jest. that’s great you do that. You probably should’ve said something like that to begin with)

  • corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca
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    5 hours ago

    Is she sure she’s a senator? She sounds like government’s not for her. All this truth and vengeance is great for a private citizen with no access to healthcare or water inspectors or other trappings of the society in which she lives.