King Charles III left Australia on Wednesday for the Samoa Islands, where a summit of the 56 member countries of the Commonwealth is being held, a new opportunity for the sovereign to confront the British colonial past.
The 75-year-old monarch and Queen Camilla took off from Sydney Airport after a six-day visit to Australia, cut short due to her cancer diagnosis eight months ago.
His trip to this country of which he is head of state and whose population is divided over the future of the monarchy, was marked by formal events, which concluded with a giant barbecue and a naval parade with the emblematic Sydney Opera House in the background.
But there was also the occasion of a strong attack against the king, in the Parliament of Canberra: the Aboriginal senator Lidia Thorpe shouted at him “Give us back our lands, give us back what you stole from us!”
Commonwealth role
Australia was a British colony for more than a century, during which thousands of Aboriginal Australians were killed and entire communities were displaced.
Charles III insists the monarchy still has its place in Australia. More broadly, he believes the Commonwealth, an organization originally formed by former British colonies and which has expanded to include African countries such as Togo and Gabon, can play “an important role on the international stage.”
The Commonwealth, which has 2.5 billion inhabitants, “has the diversity necessary to understand the planet’s problems and the intellectual capacity and determination necessary to formulate practical solutions,” said the sovereign before heading to Apia, the capital of Samoa. . Islands, halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii.
Oceans and colonialism
This is the first time an organization summit has been held on a Pacific island. Samoa has been preparing for this for months, with villages decorated in the colors of member countries and food vouchers offered to residents in exchange for handing over firearms.
Its official program includes debates on the environment, democratic systems, economy, youth, gender issues and digital transformation.
The organization’s secretary general, Patricia Scotland, hopes that the summit will “bring together” its members in the face of “a future that for many seems very turbulent and complex.” “We have two options: either we swim together or we sink alone,” he told AFP.
Global warming is emerging as a major issue, as rising oceans directly threaten Pacific islands like Samoa, where 70% of the 220,000 inhabitants live in at-risk coastal areas.
Leaders present are expected to adopt a declaration dedicated to ocean preservation during the meeting, which runs through Saturday.
Legacy of the British Empire
But the summit also promises to be a new opportunity to discuss the legacy of the British Empire, particularly when the leaders present will have to elect a new secretary general who is expected to come from the African continent.
All three candidates to replace Patricia Scotland, in office since 2016, have publicly called for reparations for the British Empire’s role in slavery and colonialism.
At the organisation’s last summit two years ago, Charles, then crown prince, expressed his “sadness” at the UK’s slaveholding past and said member states were free to leave the monarchy.
Since his accession to the throne in September 2022, issues have become increasingly pressing for the United Kingdom, as demonstrated once again by the attack on Canberra.
On his visit to Kenya a year ago, the king condemned “unforgivable” British colonial abuses, without asking for forgiveness. A spokesman for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the issue of reparations was not on the summit agenda.
Source: BFM TV