Indigenous elder charged after activists evicted from old Lobby Restaurant

An Indigenous elder has been charged after days of occupying a former restaurant on the lawns of Old Parliament House in Canberra.

About a dozen Australian Federal Police (AFP) officers arrived at the old Lobby Restaurant on this morning to evict any Aboriginal Tent Embassy activists who remained inside the building.

One elder refused to leave.

“I’m refusing to move because I’m part of this land,” he said.

The man was eventually escorted out of the premises and taken into custody.

Police said he was released on bail to face court in December, charged with failing to leave a Commonwealth premise when directed to do so.

The site is controlled by the National Capital Authority (NCA), who provided a statement of complaint to ACT Policing on Sunday regarding five people occupying the old restaurant.

The activists had issued the NCA with an “eviction notice”, claiming they had no right to build on Ngunnawal land. 

Police said a meeting was conducted that afternoon, where the owners of the building gave the activists permission to remain there until another meeting yesterday, where negotiations between the two parties failed.

In a statement, Acting Chief Executive of the National Capital Authority, Andrew Smith said the NCA is assessing and re-securing the building.

This afternoon, police remained at the site, with the building fenced off to the public.

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