https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/may/04/commonwealth-indigenous-...

https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/indigenous-people-around-the-world-h...

Indigenous leaders across British Commonwealth demand apology for colonisation ahead of coronation

https://nit.com.au/04-05-2023/5835/indigenous-leaders-across-commonwealt...

Ahead of the coronation of King Charles III, Indigenous leaders and politicians from Commonwealth countries including Australia have called for the British monarch to formally apologise for the ongoing effects of colonisation.

First reported by Guardian Australia, a letter signed by representatives of 12 Commonwealth countries calls for King Charles to make "a formal apology and for a process of reparatory justice to commence".

The letter, "Apology, reparation, and repatriation of artefacts and remains", is signed by representatives of Antigua and Barbuda, Aotearoa (New Zealand), Australia, The Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

It calls for King Charles to make a number of immediate commitments to help the nations "recover from centuries of racism, oppression, colonialism and slavery".

"We, the undersigned, call on the British Monarch, King Charles III, on the date of his coronation being May 6, 2023, to acknowledge the horrific impacts on and legacy of genocide and colonisation of the Indigenous and enslaved peoples," the letter states.

It urges an immediate commitment to "starting discussions about reparations for the oppression of our peoples, plundering of our resources, denigration of our culture and to redistribute the wealth that underpins the Crown back to the peoples from whom it was stolen", along with a request to "immediately commit to the repatriation of all remains of our collective peoples that reside in UK museums and institutions".

The signatories also call for a commitment "to the return of all our cultural treasures and artefacts stolen from our peoples throughout the hundreds of years of genocide, enslavement, discrimination, massacre, and racial discrimination by the authorities empowered by the protection of the British crown".

Former Labor senator and Olympian Nova Peris is one of the letter's signatories.

"We know this may be a tough conversation for the royal family, but change begins with listening," Ms Peris said.

"We are calling on (King Charles) to also acknowledge the horrific and enduring impacts of the legacy of genocide and colonisation on Indigenous and enslaved peoples.

"We hope this petition begins a process towards justice."

Ms Peris, the co-chair of the Australian Republic Movement, was backed by independent Victorian senator Lidia Thorpe, who shares the view that Australia should have its own head of state.

"This country has a new king. The parliament and the prime minister are subjugated to someone we didn't elect," Senator Thorpe said.

"Australia must move towards cutting ties with the crown and becoming a republic, but we have unfinished business to settle before this can happen."

Senator Thorpe renewed her calls for the Australian government to implement a treaty with Indigenous people, saying "a republic that hasn't resolved the injustices of terra nullius continues the violent legacy of colonisation".

Members of New Zealand's Te Pāti Māori or Māori party Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waitit said Indigenous members of the Commonwealth deserved the right to "self-management, self-determination, and self-governance over all our domains".

"The British crown deliberately engineered our displacement for many generations to come, but they have not succeeded," they said.

"It is time to dismantle this system so we can rebuild one that works for everybody."

The letter also calls for the the Royal family to "acknowledge and adopt the renunciation of the 'Doctrine of Discovery' made by Pope Francis last month, and start the process of consultation and reparations for the First Peoples who suffered the consequences of Native Genocide in fulfilment of that doctrine in the name of God".

Canadian First Nations leaders also called on Charles to renounce the Doctrine in September last year.

It follows a statement from the Vatican issued in March starting doctrine "is not part of the teaching of the Catholic church" and that international laws of the 1400s aiming to justify colonialism "did not adequately reflect the equal dignity and rights of Indigenous peoples".