A STATUE of Queen Victoria in Sydney was defaced with red paint just a few hours before King Charles’s scheduled visit to the city.
The statue of the monarch sits outside the Queen Victoria Building in Sydney’s central business district and installed in the 1980s.
Police arrived at around 5.30am after receiving reports of the statue being vandalised.
Photographs show the plinth of the bronze statue covered with streaks of red paint.
READ MORE: Aussie senator Lidia Thorpe defends interruption of King Charles
New South Wales confirmed that an investigation into the incident was underway.
The vandalism comes amid King Charles’s already fractious tour of the country, his first since becoming King.
Thorpe, who is the state of Victoria’s first indigenous senator, was ushered from the hall while shouting: “You are not our king, you are not sovereign … you have committed genocide against our people.”
Wharton told reporters that he wanted to give King Charles an International Criminal Court notice for genocidal crimes.
However, after shouting at a crowd who had gathered to greet the King, police escorted Wharton away from the area.
“This is resistance,” he said.
“I tried to explain to the authorities, I was trying to serve a document on the king of England.
READ MORE: Keir Starmer faces pressure from Caribbean nations over reparations
“All the advantage, all the wealth … is through the direct results of massacres, wars and genocide of First Nations people.”
King Charles met with members of the indigenous community in Sydney on Tuesday.
Some indigenous activists had been hoping for an apology from King Charles for the monarchy’s historical role in colonialism during the visit.
Yet while King Charles offered his respects “to the traditional owners of the land on which we meet”, he stopped short of apologising on behalf of the royal family.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel