King Charles heads to Samoa as indigenious protester gets arrested in Sydney – live

Indigenous activist Wayne Wharton, 60, was arrested outside the opera house yesterday before the royals greeted the crowd.

The monarch, 75, and his supporters were targeted by Mr Wharton who encouraged the crowds gathered at the Sydney Opera House to leave with the King.

“It will be alleged the man was acting in an abusive and threatening manner and had failed to comply with two previous move-on directions,” a police statement said.

He was charged with failing to comply with a police direction and will appear in court on 5 November.

Mr Wharton said he intended to serve Charles with a summons to appear in court on war crimes and for genocide but never got close to the couple.

The royal visit was “a slap in the face to every decent Aboriginal person and fair-minded person in Australia that’s tried to make a go of their lives,” Mr Wharton told the AP after his arrest.

On Monday, Indigenous independent senator Lidia Thorpe yelled at Charles during a reception that he was not her king and Australia was not his land.Wharton said he backed Thorpe “absolutely 100 per cent”.

He had protested with a small group of demonstrators outside a Sydney church service the couple attended on Sunday under a banner “Empire Built on Genocide”.

King Charles will be offered the title of high chief in Samoa during his three-day visit starting today and will be shown the impact of rising sea levels due to climate change in the Pacific island nation.

Lenatai Victor Tamapua, a Samoan chief and member of parliament, said he planned to offer the title of ‘Tui Taumeasina’ to the monarch during a traditional ceremonial welcome to Charles and Queen Camilla tomorrow.

He will later lead Charles through a walkway on a mangrove reserve highlighting the impact of climate change on the Pacific nations and its communities.

“The king tide today is about twice that it was 20, 30 years ago, and that is affecting our land, and it’s eating away at some of the areas that are so hard for us to control, and people (have to) move inwards, inland now,” Mr Tamapua said.

Charles has spent a lifetime campaigning on environmental issues and in 2020 described global warming and climate change as the greatest threat that humanity has faced.

The King and Queen will receive a formal welcome when they arrive in Samoa for a state visit.

Charles and Camilla will be greeted by the country’s prime minister Afioga Fiame Naomi Mataafa when they step off their jet.

Nearby will be an honour guard formed by the Samoan Police Force, who will be stood to attention for their royal guests.

The King is head of the Commonwealth and for the first time will preside over the gathering of presidents and prime ministers, and formally open the event which will be attended by Sir Keir Starmer.

Charles deputised for Queen Elizabeth II during the last Chogm staged by Rwanda in 2022, and in Samoa will be joined by foreign secretary David Lammy.

Lidia Thorpe, 51, accused the British monarchy of genocide in a fiery speech before telling Charles “you’re not my King” as he returned to his seat from a lectern in Canberra.

Ms Thorpe later told the BBC that she wanted to send “a clear message” to Charles. “To be sovereign you have to be of the land,” she said. “He is not of this land.”

Find out more about her background and activism here:

King Charles and Queen Camilla continued a longstanding royal tradition when they visited Government House on their Australian tour.

They took the opportunity to plant Eucalyptus trees in the garden, as has been done to mark every royal visit since 1985.

He visited the institute to learn about its revolutionary approaches to treating melanoma, one of the most common types of cancer in Australia.

Prof Scoyler, a leading pathologist, said: “It’s courageous of the King to go public with his cancer journey.

“Everyone’s different about how they feel about a cancer diagnosis. Some people are happy to go public with it, but it’s not the same for all patients, and I think we should respect that.

“But for us, what we’ve been talking with the King about today is melanoma and the incredible advances that we’ve made here.”

The royal family has been regularly touring and visiting Australia since the late 19th century, with the country playing host to several key moments in their history.

In the wake of King Charles‘s first official tour of Australia as monarch, The Independent takes a look back at the most memorable royal tours in recent history.

Queen Camilla took the opportunity on the royal tour to put the eyes of the world on a community project helping Australians experiencing food insecurity.

As a patron of UK Harvest, she visited its Australian counterpart, Oz Harvest, where efforts are being made to help those facing hunger and reduce food waste.

King Charles learned about new technology being developed to tackle bushfires on the second day of his Australian tour.

A post on the official royal family Twitter/X account read: The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia’s national science agency, is undertaking research, developing models and testing equipment, to study the spread of bushfires under a range of weather conditions.

“The King watched demonstrations and spoke to firefighters about their experience using newly developed equipment, thanks to CSIRO’s studies.”

King Charles and Queen Camilla’s packed schedule of engagements on their royal tour of Australia also saw the queen consort recognise the achievements of young, Australian writers.

A post on the official royal family Twitter/X account said: “At Green Square Library, Her Majesty spent time with talented young Australians taking part in workshops with authors, before meeting past winners of The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition (@RoyalCWSociety).”