Aboriginals clash at tent embassy

Rival indigenous groups clashed today as local tribe members tried to evict residents of a so-called “Aboriginal tent embassy” set up 30 years ago in the Australian capital.

Local Ngunnawal tribe elders walked onto the grounds in front of the Old Parliament House around midday, put out a symbolic fire kept burning by the protesters and began tearing down the tents and makeshift huts that made up the site.

One Ngunnawal elder, Matilda House, said the protest “had lost its way” and that its residents were just harassing tourists.

“They have turned it into a come-what-may, caravan camping place,” she said. Scuffles broke out between the two groups as federal police officers watched nearby.

The site was set up in 1972 by the Old Parliament House to protest against the government’s refusal to recognise Aboriginal land rights.

Attempts to remove the protesters were abandoned after television pictures of police fighting with Aborigines there embarrassed the government.

About 20 residents live on the site and hand out leaflets on Aboriginal mistreatment and land claims to tourists exploring Australia’s capital.

But in recent years, the residents have lost the support of the Ngunnawal tribe and national Aboriginal leaders.