Aboriginal group removed from restaurant

One man has been arrested as police removed Aboriginal activists from an empty restaurant in Canberra, less than a kilometre from Parliament House.

One of the activists who had occupied the former Lobby Restaurant told reporters as he was taken out by police on Thursday: "My people. This is what happens to you when you defy white man's law."

Five protesters entered the restaurant on Sunday in what they described as a bid to reclaim sovereignty over the land.

The ex-restaurant is on crown land, controlled by the National Capital Authority which complained to police after receiving an "eviction notice" from the protesters and a demand for $7 million in "rent".

Owners of the building gave the protesters permission to stay until a meeting on Wednesday.

When a resolution at Wednesday's meeting could not be reached permission to remain in the building was removed and the protesters were asked to leave.