MELBOURNE — Three judges at Victoria’s Supreme Court of Appeal in Melbourne reserved their decision on whether Indigenous activist Uncle Robbie Thorpe can pursue a private prosecution against King Charles III for alleged genocide against Indigenous Australians. Thorpe, 68, appealed to the court after two lower courts rejected his bid to initiate proceedings in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court.
Thorpe’s case alleges that King Charles III, as Australia’s head of state, along with the Australian government and its institutions, perpetuated genocide by maintaining systemic socioeconomic disadvantages affecting Indigenous people. According to official statistics, Indigenous Australians—4% of the national population—die younger, suffer worse health outcomes, and face higher rates of imprisonment and unemployment than other groups.
During the hearing, Thorpe told the judges that Indigenous people were dying because their disadvantage in Australia was compounding. “The Crown is responsible for all this mess.” He added, “Australia’s got away with genocide of Aboriginal people since they arrived here.” He further stated, “They totally failed to prevent (genocide). That’s the crime here. They failed to prevent genocide knowingly and they failed to punish anyone for it.”
Thorpe appeared in court wearing a traditional possum-skin coat and carrying a feather from an Australian wedge-tailed eagle, an Indigenous totem. He requested to be addressed as Uncle Robbie or by his tribal name, Djuran Bunjileenee. Justice Karin Emerton, the presiding judge, referred to him as Uncle Robbie. In Indigenous Australian communities, the titles “uncle” and “aunt” are used as marks of respect for elders.
Thorpe is attempting to charge the king under Indigenous law that has existed for more than 65,000 years, state common law, and federal criminal law, according to court documents. The king was identified in those documents as Charles Philip Arthur George Windsor. A prior court ruling dismissed Thorpe’s appeal last year, stating that magistrates could not consider Indigenous law and that genocide was not an offense under common law. The same ruling noted that any genocide prosecution under federal law would require approval from the federal attorney-general.
Following a two-hour hearing, Emerton said the three judges would deliver their verdict at a later date. Thorpe told the media that if he exhausts his legal options in Australia, he would take the case under the Genocide Convention to the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands. “It’s clear that they’re unwilling, unable, reluctant to deal with these international legal issues like genocide.” If his appeal fails, his final domestic legal recourse would be Australia’s High Court.