Sir Keir Starmer has praised the King for doing a “fantastic job” after he was heckled by a senator in the Australian parliament.
The prime minister said the King was an “incredible ambassador” for the UK and the 56 independent countries that make up the Commonwealth.
He was speaking after the monarch was heckled by Australian senator Lidia Thorpe during his address to the Australian parliament on Monday.
Ms Thorpe accused the King of “genocide” against her nation’s indigenous people at a welcome event in Canberra, shouting: “This is not your land. You are not my King.”
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Asked what he thought about politicians “heckling the King” on Monday, Sir Keir said: “Look, I think the King is doing a fantastic job, an incredible ambassador, not just for our country, but across the Commonwealth.
“I think he’s doing a fantastic job, and we should remember in the context of health, that he is out there doing his public service notwithstanding the health challenges he himself has had – so I think he’s doing a great job.”
Ms Thorpe is the first Aboriginal woman from the state of Victoria to become a senator. When she was sworn in she refused to take an oath of allegiance to the late Queen.
After the King addressed guests at Parliament House, Ms Thorpe, who wore a possum skin coat and carried a traditional message stick, shouted: “Give us our land back. Give us what you stole from us… Our babies, our people. You destroyed our land”.
Ms Thorpe was then ushered from the building’s hall and shouted: “Give us a treaty – we want a treaty with this country……
