ALBAWABA - Today marks the conclusion of King Charles III's first visit to Australia in 13 years.
Anti-monarchists believing that the controversy surrounding his visit will pave the way for the Australian to become head of state.
Charles and his wife, Queen Camilla, saw dancers perform at an Aboriginal community center in Sydney, used tongs to cook sausages at a community barbecue lunch in the central suburb of Parramatta, and later shook hands with well-wishers for the final time outside the Sydney Opera House.
Their last assignment was to examine navy ships in Sydney Harbour at an occasion known as Fleet Review. Cancer treatment cut short Charles' journey to Australia; he arrived in Samoa on Wednesday.
Aboriginal organizations have protested to Charles during his tour, and others have called for the replacement of the British king as Australia's head of state.
Protesters screamed "Black lives matter" and "No pride in genocide" as the British monarch departed Sydney on Tuesday, concluding his historic visit to Australia.
An Australian senator has defended her interruption of King Charles and his allegations of genocide as he delivered a speech outside Australia's parliament building, telling the BBC that he was "not of this land."
Before security led her away, Senator Lydia Thorpe, an indigenous Australian, disrupted the event in Canberra by yelling for about a minute.
She asserted that genocide had occurred "against our people," saying, "This is not your land; you are not mine."
Earlier this week, a line of lawmakers, schoolchildren, and Ngunnawal's aunt Serena Williams, an indigenous leader, greeted the king and queen upon their arrival in Canberra.
The Great Hall of Parliament House in Canberra welcomed them with a didgeridoo.
The king talked about indigenous communities and the lessons he had learned from them, saying that "this traditional wisdom has shaped and strengthened my own experience" and that "in my many visits to Australia, I have witnessed the courage and hope that have guided the nation's long and sometimes difficult journey towards reconciliation."
Buckingham Palace has not issued an official statement about Lydia Thorpe's protest, instead focusing on the large crowds who gathered to greet the King and Queen in Canberra. A palace insider claims that the hundreds of people who came out to show solidarity genuinely affected the royal couple.
Australia is a Commonwealth nation, and the British monarch is the head of state.
Australians have been debating whether to abolish the monarchy and transition to a republic for decades. The public had the opportunity to modify the country's constitution in a 1999 referendum, but decisively rejected it.
Polls indicate that support for the republic movement has risen since then, and the country's current prime minister, Anthony Albanese, who shook hands with the monarch immediately before the senator intervened, has long been a republican.
