A group of Ngunnawal traditional owners have used the 30th anniversary of the Mabo decision to announce their intention to lodge a native title claim over the entire ACT and parts of NSW.
Ngunawal Nation Traditional Owners Network Group spokeswoman Sonia Shea said Mabo Day was a "significant day" to announce the group's intention to "ensure our culture, rights and interests through the Native Title Act".
There have been previous native title applications lodged in the ACT, in 1996 and 1997, which were withdrawn in 2001 when the ACT government and Ngunnawal people reached an agreement over a special 99-year joint management lease for Namadgi National Park.
In a press conference this afternoon, the group said anthropological research was currently being undertaken into their genealogical links to the boundary over which they intended to lay claim.
Ms Shea said once that was completed, the group would finalise the process.
The group has also acquired legal representation.
Ngunnawal man Bradley Mapiva Brown said the ancestral group had occupied the area for about 60,000 years.
Mr Brown said some of the group's "key principles" included "the preservation of Ngunnawal sovereign and identity", and the protection of their boundaries.
He said they also aimed to protect Ngunnawal culture and heritage for future generations.
Another Ngunnawal man, Stephen 'Djibin' Mudford, said the planned lodgement was about making a "statement".
He said the group had been working to collect a "lot of evidence" in support of their claim.
"These things don't happen overnight," he said.
Native title claim being made on behalf of young people
Ms Shea said in making the claim they would be committing themselves to creating a "right of way" for future generations of Ngunnawal people.
"For our young people, who need that cultural guidance and support to know who they are and how important it is to be proud Ngunnawal young people, so they can take on leadership roles as well," she said.
She referenced difficulties they had faced in getting to this point in the process.
"I think today is very significant in the fact that the struggles that Eddie Mabo and his family and his people had, it is hard work," she said.
"But if you've got the kinship and the family base around you, we can achieve anything."
Virginia Marshall from Triple BL Legal, who specialises in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Law, called the claim an "important step" but said it likely would not be a short process.
"It's a restoration process, and when we're talking about a legal system it makes it much more complex.
"Mabo in its cases – number one and number two – was just over 10 years, and some cases have gone for 15 years, so it is a very wearing process but it's a very important process."
In a statement, ACT Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Rachel Stephen-Smith welcomed the news.
"We've said before that the ACT government would engage supportively and in good faith if a new native title claim was lodged," she said.
"I look forward to hearing more as details become available."
