We must confront our own biases and strive to be better allies to our First Nations people.
-Talking To My Country, Stan Grant

Senator Lydia Thorpe strode into a function for King Charles and yelled at him. People are outraged that she dared to be so disrespectful.

Joe de Bruyn gave a speech at the Australian Catholic University and 90% of the attendees walked out. People are outraged that the attendees could be so disrespectful.

Thorpe is a First Nations person, elected to the Australian Parliament. From the start, she has made it clear that she sees the Australian political institutions as questionable for a First Nations person.

I’m not sure about yelling at the King. Makes me a little uncomfortable, I guess. After all, he is King. (How do you become king then?) That’s from my perspective, a white Australian whose family has only been here for a few generations.

To understand her, we need to look at this from her side. Sovereignty was never ceded. The rules of Australia have been imposed upon her and her community.

Every so often, the best way to make a point is to be really noisy because being quiet and polite doesn’t work. When Thorpe wrote to the King, he didn’t respond. That’s a tad rude.

And to Joe de Bruyn, a conservative catholic, former union boss who was given a platform at the Australian Catholic University graduation ceremony. He used his moment to cover some typical catholic thoughts on abortion, IVF, and marriage equality. He wasn’t in favour.

The University let him say what he said, fully aware of the contents of his speech. They cite free speech. The audience responded by walking out.

How rude, cry the right-wingers. How rude that the students couldn’t show any respect and up and leave.

de Bruyn should be able to express his view, for sure, as abhorrent as it might be. Doesn’t mean the audience has to listen, and on this occasion, showed their disapproval by walking out. Perfect response.

Respect isn’t a one-way street. When you’re the one with the power, you need to respect the people you’ve gathered.

Image by Michael Barnett