A prominent senior Ngunnawal elder is considering running as an independent candidate for the Legislative Assembly at the October election.
Aunty Violet Sheridan told a meeting organised by Independents for Canberra she was considering putting her hand up to run in Yerrabi, which covers Canberra's northern suburbs.
Ms Sheridan called for people to support independents because they represented the future for the capital.
"We need to stand together. Nobody's going to solve Aboriginal problems - First Nations people's problems - but ourselves. Give us a chance," Ms Sheridan said.
Ms Sheridan said if she decided to run, it would not just be for First Nations people.
"Families, I believe, are left behind. I live in Gungahlin and the blocks of land up there and around Canberra is so far fetched out of the hands of families. You can't even swing a cat around in one of the blocks," she said.
Ms Sheridan said she did not support the second stage of light rail and said there was inadequate infrastructure to support new suburbs around Gungahlin.
"I'm not just there standing for First Nations people. I'm standing there for Canberrans. That we're sick of people telling us what they're going to do when they get into government, [but] they don't do it. They leave us behind," she said.
"I think the way to go is independent because we don't answer to any groups. We answer to the community."
About 150 people attended the meeting at the RUC Turner Bowls Club on Sunday morning, which served as the public launch of Independents for Canberra.
Independent ACT senator David Pocock was among those to address the meeting, along with former independent Assembly member Michael Moore and Kate Chaney, the independent member for the federal Western Australian seat of Curtin.
"I think this is a great opportunity for Canberra. ... We're really looking forward to seeing what you do as you go about connecting, finding out what Canberrans want," Senator Pocock said.
Clare Carnell, Independents for Canberra director, and party co-founder Thomas Emerson told the meeting Independents for Canberra was not just a way to get the Canberra Liberals into power.
"Anyone elected under our banner will be free to operate and vote independently consistent with the wishes of the community they're representing and with the principles that we've got," Mr Emerson said.
Mr Emerson, who works in Senator Pocock's office, also said he was a prospective candidate for Kurrajong, despite previously announcing he would run for the seat in October.
"If there's a better option in my electorate that should be supported and the group wants to get behind them, then my life's pretty good at the moment," he said.
"And I'm willing to back anyone who's got the support of the group."
Mr Emerson said Independents for Canberra would speak with prospective candidates "over the next little while" and then run them through "a bit of a selection process".
"We'll probably have some more to say about that close to the middle of the year," he said.
Ms Carnell and Mr Emerson also appealed for donations, which they promised would be used transparently.
Attendees at the meeting included Kate Carnell, the former ACT Liberal chief minister and Clare Carnell's mother; former ACT Liberal minister and opposition leader Bill Stefaniak; Belco Party candidate for Yerrabi Jason Taylor; former Yerrabi independent candidate David Pollard; and Peter Strong, an independent candidate for Yerrabi running on a separate ticket.
