An Aboriginal protester has been arrested at the Sydney Opera House as crowds of people wait to see the King and Queen on the final day of their tour of Australia.
Crowds of people filled the port grounds, where the royal couple will visit on Tuesday afternoon.
Wayne Wharton, a popular Aboriginal activist from Brisbane, was arrested after shouting anti-imperialist slogans and refusing police orders to move on.
It comes as talk of an Aboriginal senator’s abuse of King Charles in Canberra on Monday intensified, as politicians and other indigenous leaders criticized Lidia Thorpe’s behaviour.
Mr Wharton had shouted “he is not my Lord”, echoing Thorpe’s words the day before.
A crowd of waiting royals – many holding Union Jack flags – shouted back “God save the King”.
Mr Wharton also protested outside the church service attended by members of the royal family on Sunday.
When the Kooma man was arrested and put in a police van on Tuesday, the crowd that had gathered applauded the police.
Several hundred had been queuing since early Tuesday, several wearing British flags. Others accessorized with royal-themed jewelry and bags.
“We want to celebrate our country and all the people in it,” said Karen Clark, with her little boys Benjamin and Harrison both wearing crowns and capes with fake fur.
“We were brought up with Silo, we celebrate Silo’s birthday with the boys – it’s fun to drink sweet tea and wear our best clothes.”
“My father was from Liverpool and I have always been interested in the Royals,” said Bettina Bethuel who came with her friend Taja Shephard.
Taja saw Thorpe’s frenzy on TV and was not impressed.
“I thought it was disrespectful but I think he was making his point to the Aboriginal people,” he said. But I don’t think the way he behaved is appropriate.
The independent MP’s protest was hailed as brave by some Indigenous activists, but criticized by some prominent Indigenous Australians as “disgraceful” and disrespectful.
He was also criticized by his peers in Parliament.
Nellie Pollard-Wharton, who was with her father when he was arrested, said it was funny to watch the crowds “go wild as he was put in a paddy wagon. [police van] for standing up for his rights”.
“Actually, from what a lot of Aussies say to us, it’s like ‘we’ve made it’ – it’s been long enough,” he told the BBC.
“[But we] we need to keep protesting so that we can have agreements, so that our rights can be heard, so that our young people and our incarcerated men and women stop dying, so that our health outcomes can improve… so that we can decide for ourselves.”
On the other side of town, King Charles began Tuesday by visiting the National Center of Indigenous Excellence in Redfern, where he met with Indigenous elders.
He later went to a community picnic in Parramatta, where a suit-wearing king enjoyed cooking sausages in a bakery before meeting a herding dog.
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