The ACT government has apologised to the Indigenous Ngambri people for the hurt caused by failing to recognise them as traditional custodians of the land.
Ngambri people Paul Girrawah House and Leah House took the ACT Government to the Supreme Court last year, claiming the government had breached the Human Rights Act 2004 by failing to acknowledge the Ngambri as traditional custodians of the ACT.
Since 2002, the ACT Government has acknowledged the Ngunnawal people as the traditional custodians of the ACT, “acting on the advice of the local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community”. This acknowledgement was formalised in an Indigenous Protocol.
The ACT will continue to acknowledge the Ngunnawal people as traditional owners, but the Protocol will change to include the Ngambri and possibly others.
The government reached a settlement with the Houses yesterday. Court hearings were scheduled for next week.
The ACT Government apologised to the Houses and the Ngambri (Kamberri) community “for the hurt and distress which they have suffered”.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr, Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury, and Rachel Stephen-Smith, minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, published a statement last night:
“The ACT Government recognises the right of Aboriginal people to self-determination and that there is re-emerging knowledge about their history and connections with the land.
“We acknowledge that individuals and families who identify as Ngambri (Kamberri) have determined that they are traditional custodians of land within the ACT and surrounding regions, and that other people and families may also identify as having a traditional connection to this land.”
The ACT Government will review the Indigenous Protocol, and change the wording of acknowledgements to country. An interim protocol will be put in place over the next fortnight while the government consults the community.
“While this process is underway, the Government will continue to acknowledge the Ngunnnawal people as traditional custodians of the ACT while also recognising any other people or families with connection to the ACT and region,” the politicians said.
Ms Stephen-Smith said the ACT recognised the right of Aboriginal people to self-determination.
“We recognise there is re-emerging knowledge about the history and connections to this land,” she told ABC radio on Thursday.
“It has always been the case that we have recognised the Houses as having a traditional connection to this land.
“But what our statement today acknowledges is that Paul Girrawah House, Leah House, and other members of the House family have suffered hurt and distress through the implementation of the protocol.”
Ms Stephen-Smith said it would form part of the wider process and conversation that needs to be had on moving forward on the path to treaty.
She said the removal of the legal process would also become part of the healing and reconciliation process.
“It’s a really fundamental element of any treaty process that we are able to identify who it is that the government is negotiating with,” she said.
“We’ve always recognised that was going to be a challenging part of the process and … that there were a wider group of families that have traditional custodianship of this land.”
– With AAP
