Paul Girrawah House, a Ngambri-Ngunnawal custodian who took on the ACT government in court over the way it recognises traditional custodians, has registered a political party to contest the ACT election.
The First Nation Party has been formally registered by Elections ACT, with Mr House the registered officer and secretary.
Mr House called on Canberrans who backed the Voice referendum in 2023 to support the election of First Nation candidates to the Legislative Assembly.
"This is the first time that a party representing Indigenous people has been registered to contest ACT Legislative Assembly elections. Whilst there have been trailblazing Indigenous politicians elected to federal, state and territory governments in the past, none have belonged to an Indigenous party," Mr House said in a statement.
"The voices of First Nations people have been neglected for too long in the ACT. Health, housing and traditional land management are critical areas where First Nations people's voices need a strong and compassionate seat at the table."
The party said policies and candidates would be announced over the coming weeks and months. Mr House said on Tuesday he was not yet confirmed as a candidate for the party.
"I expect the party will attract a strong group of candidates in every electorate. For the first time all Canberrans will have an opportunity to vote for First Nation candidates in the local assembly," Mr House said.
Mr House last year reached a settlement alongside Leah House with the ACT government in the Supreme Court in which the territory acknowledged the "hurt and distress" the sole recognition of Ngunnawal people had caused Ngambri custodians. The government also committed to a comprehensive review.
Mr House told The Canberra Times at the time he welcomed the government's announcement on the outcome of the case. "The apology is accepted because it is a very important step in the long journey ahead of us all to repair the damage of colonisation," he said.
The Ngambri representative said expectations were of "equal recognition for all people" after the settlement.
"This is a really important turning point in the history of the ACT," he said. "There is no going back."
Mr House and other Ngambri custodians filed a claim in 2022 against the government's "one-tribe policy", formalised in 2002 as an Indigenous Protocol, which states Ngunnawal people are the only traditional custodians.
Mr House ran for the Canberra Liberals in the seat of Murrumbidgee at the 2016 Assembly election, having previously been a member of ACT Labor for about five years between 2005 and 2010. He collected 3.5 per cent of the vote and did not win a seat.
Mr House told The Canberra Times in 2016 he had quit Labor because there "obviously wasn't room for an Indigenous person there".
"I was sick and tired of the factional fighting, the dysfunction, it wasn't for me," he said at the time, describing the Liberals as "the only legitimate party to lead us into a shared future", with a better commitment to Indigenous issues.
