Featured Image Credit: ABC/Allstar Picture Library Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo
Topics: The Queen, Australia, Royal Family
Emily Brown
Topics: The Queen, Australia, Royal Family
An aboriginal elder from Australia wiped away tears as he recalled how Queen Elizabeth II treated them 'as human beings' for the first time during a meeting in 1999.
Yawuru elder Patrick Lionel Djargun Dodson met the late Queen at Buckingham Palace as Australia prepared to vote on whether or not it should become a republic and cut ties with the royal family.
The vote was ultimately defeated with 55 percent of voters in favour of keeping the monarchy, but Dodson has recalled feeling 'totally disarmed' when arriving at the palace in London.
Watch his interview here:
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Speaking as part of ABC's documentary, The Queen and Us, following the death of the Queen, Dodson said: "We got in there and we were totally disarmed... The Queen, she was... It's a funny thing, to feel a bit emotional about it, because she was so welcoming.
"And she thanked us for coming. And, she ... I think for the first time in our lives, we were treated properly. She treated us as human beings."
Dodson said he and First Nations people can tell 'a mile away when words are bullsh*t', but he felt that the Queen was genuinely interested to hear from them during their encounter in 1999.
Dodson became known for his work as an Aboriginal advocate, and he went on to join Australia's Parliament as a Labor senator.
Discussions over Australia becoming a republic began again following the news of the Queen's passing on 8 September, with Adam Bandt, leader of the Greens party, writing on Twitter that the country 'need[s] to become a Republic'.
Peter FitzSimons, leader of the Australian Republican Movement, also released a statement saying it was 'unlikely we will ever see a Monarch as respected or admired by the Australian people again'.
"With the greatest respect to Charles III - and I mean that; I have nothing against him personally - he does not enjoy the same deep wellspring of affection and loyalty that Her Majesty did," he commented.
The Queen travelled to Australia numerous times throughout her reign, acting there as Queen of Australia.
The Royal Family website explains: "The Queen has celebrated all aspects of Australian culture and life, from sheep farms to natural wonders such as the Great Barrier Reef, and from the triumph of Olympic and Commonwealth sporting meetings to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art and tradition."
The Queen's last visit to Australia took place in 2011, when she was in her 80s.
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