Photographers: National Archives of Australia A3560, 3108 and A3560, 419
In May 1927, Jimmy Clements and George John Noble walked from the Brungle Aboriginal Mission near Tumut NSW, over the Brindabella Ranges, to attend the opening of Parliament House. Although not invited to the event, the men made the journey to Canberra to assert their sovereign rights, at the very moment that a claim of sovereignty was being asserted by the Crown and the Australian Parliament. Clements and Noble’s attendance at the event is considered to be a significant milestone in the history of indigenous activism.
The commemoration will be a nationally significant public work which will be located on the lawns opposite (Old) Parliament House in Canberra. It is expected that it will be completed by May 2027, to coincide with events planned to mark the centenary of the opening of Parliament House.