Call to halt development on Mount Ainslie foothills until Indigenous values of site assessed

Australian National University Centre for Indigenous Studies senior lecturer Dr Ed Wensing has called for the ACT and federal government's to halt Doma's proposed development until the Aboriginal values of the site are assessed.

It came after Ngambri man Shane Mortimer told ABC Canberra the site was an important spiritual place used for sacred men's business.

"The issues raised by Mr Mortimer highlight the fact that both the ACT and Commonwealth's planning legislation relating to the ACT are seriously flawed when they come to recognition of Aboriginal peoples' rights and interests in the ACT," Dr Wensing said.

"There are no specific provisions protecting the interests of the Aboriginal custodians of the ACT in either of the planning statutes governing land use planning in the ACT.

"This oversight in the statutes aggravates situations such as the Doma site on the foothills of Mount Ainslie."

Dr Wensing also called for a public review into the ACT and Commonwealth governments planning statutes.

Doma has proposed to build 244 apartments on the site, which also includes the former headquarters of the CSIRO.

The ABC reported neither the government or developer consulted registered Aboriginal organisations or local elders about the site.

Mr Mortimer told the ABC the site's rocky outcroppings held a significant value and that marker stones showed evidence of the land's Indigenous history.

The Commonwealth determined the site held no Indigenous heritage. A concept plan for the site has been approved and a development application for its buildings are currently under consideration from the National Capital Authority.

The federal Department of Environment said it did not assess the site for its Indigenous heritage as no national heritage sites were identified on the location.

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A spokeswoman from the National Capital Authority told The Canberra Times the body was guided by the findings of the environment department.

Dr Wensing has researched the interactions between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' rights and interests and conventional land use planning systems for the past decade. He said planning systems had failed Indigenous people, with Queensland the only state to provide significant protections for the recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander peoples land rights, regardless of whether a native title claim had been found to exist or not.

"The reality is that since the High Court of Australia's historic and landmark decision in Mabo No. 2 which recognised the existence of native land title in Australia, there is an over-riding moral, if not legal, obligation on land use planning authorities to ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples rights and interests are adequately taken into consideration in land use planning decision-making," Dr Wensing said.

"I note that Mr Mortimer's people, the Nyamudy-Ngambri, assert they hold Allodium over the ACT and surrounding area, which reiterates the point that our planning and land administration systems are not working very well at recognising and protecting Aboriginal peoples' interests regardless of whether they have been formally recognised or not."