An Indigenous Australian parliamentarian was instructed to retake her oath of office on Monday after she changed it to label Britain’squeen a colonizer.

Greens Senator LidiaThorpe told parliament’s upper house with her right fist raised above her head that she would “bear true allegiance to the colonising Her MajestyQueen Elizabeth II”.

The 96-year-old monarch is also Australia’s head of state.

Senate president Sue Linestold Thorpe, a Djab Wurrung Gunnai Gunditjmara woman, that she was required to recite the affirmation — a form of the parliamentary oath that omits a reference to God — as written. After a pause, Thorpe— a senator since September 2020 who retained her seat at a federal election in May — recited the affirmation correctly.

Buckingham Palace spokespeople had no immediate response to a request for comment on Thorpe’s remark. Australia’s indigenous leaders have toiled for generations to win recognition for injustices suffered by their people since European colonisation began in the 1700s.

Euthanasia ban

A new bill was introduced in parliament on Monday seeking to lift a 25-year ban on doctor-assisted suicide in two territories.

Australia’s Northern Territory in 1995 became the first place in the world to legalise voluntary euthanasia. But the landmark law was overturned by the parliament 2 years later.