First Nations Greens senator Lidia Thorpe has had to redo her parliamentary oath after describing the Queen as a coloniser.
With her fist firmly in the air, the DjabWurrung, Gunnai, Gunditjmara Senator walked towards the central table of the chamber to recite the affirmation of allegiance, as required by section 42 of the constitution.
However, her rendition invoked jeering from the chamber, and Senate president Susan Lines urged Senator Thorpe to do it again.
She later took to Twitter to declare: “Sovereignty never ceded”.
Senator Thorpe later led a push in the Senate for the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People through her private senator’s bill.
Her bill will establish a framework to implement the Declaration and put in place annual reporting mechanisms.
