2BOB

This week, Charles III, King of Australia, visited the country for the first time as reigning monarch. He was greeted at a royal reception at Parliament House. He sat next to the Prime Minister, in front of an audience of other parliamentarians and dignitaries.  The King gave his speech in the style typical of a constitutional monarch. There was a timbre of genuine feeling in his voice, but its content was generally neutral and diplomatic. He acknowledged country and the experience of Australia's indigenous peoples. He ornamented his speech with references to various elements of Australiana - the laugh of the kookaburra and the warble of the magpie. He noted how much the nation had changed in his lifetime, whilst also promoting the need for constancy. It was inoffensive, relatively unremarkable and just what one would expect of a monarch in post-colonial Australia. At the end of his address, an indigenous senator, Lidia Thorpe, broke whatever spell the King had cast over his audie...