Djuran Bunjilinee, aka Robbie Thorpe, doesn’t mince his words. The Krautungalung elder’s critique of Australia’s treatment of its First Peoples is as raw as it is necessary. ‘It’s a bloody oath, mate,’ he says. The phrase is familiar Australian colloquial, but it takes on a darker meaning under Thorpe’s lens, connoting the ongoing genocide embedded in this country’s blood-soaked foundations. The Australian nation, he argues, is built on a genocide that it continues to perpetuate through policies that strip Aboriginal people of their land, autonomy, and ultimately of their lives. ‘The system itself is the criminal here,’ he explains.
Thorpe has dedicated his life to exposing this criminality on the part of the state. Along with allies including his mother, Gunditjmara elder Aunty Alma Thorpe, and niece, Senator Lidia Thorpe, he has instigated various legal cases before Australian courts arguing for the state’s culpability. Most notably, in July 2024 at the supreme court of Victoria, he sought a judicial review after his attempt to prosecute King Charles III for ongoing offences in an Aboriginal genocide was blocked. He also made a submission to the Senate’s constitutional affairs legislation committee. This included a charge sheet and summons for Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, accusing him of complicity in genocide against Aboriginal people – by failing to negotiate a treaty seeking consent, and by failing to remove the requirement of his approval for any Aboriginal genocide charges.1
