Indigenous activists begin rights walk from Sydney to Canberra

from the Sydney Morning Herald

A group of Indigenous activists and community members have begun a 17-day walk from Sydney to Canberra seeking an end to the Northern Territory intervention.

They set off from Botany Bay before 0600 (AEDT) on Friday morning and plan to arrive at the Tent Embassy in the national capital on Australia Day.

The activists will also converge on Parliament House on February 3 - the first day back for federal parliament in 2009 - to protest for Aboriginal human rights.

"The NT Intervention is the most recent attack on our human rights, our collective rights as Indigenous peoples and our sovereign rights as the true custodians of these lands," activist Darren Bloomfield said in a statement.

"If you want to Close The Gap, Rudd, begin at the beginning - recognise Aboriginal sovereignty."

There are also fears about a centralised remote nuclear waste dump still looming over Aboriginal communities of the Northern Territory.

The group has demanded the UN's Declaration on Human Rights for Indigenous Peoples be adopted and that Aboriginal control of Indigenous affairs be implemented.