Shane Mortimer
{{Short description|Australian Ngambri elder}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Use Australian English|date=October 2013}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Shane Mortimer
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1955|12|24}}
| birth_place = Belmore, New South Wales, Australia
| occupation = Ngambri elder, filmmaker and activist
| years_active =
| website =
| parents = Jim and Lesley Mortimer
}}
Shane Mortimer (born 24 December 1955) is a Ngambri man with a strong connection to the local Canberra region.
Mortimer was born in Belmore, Sydney in 1955 to parents Lesley and Jim Mortimer.{{cite web|url=http://www.nit.com.au/component/content/archive.html?year=2012&month=8|title=Shane Mortimer, entrepreneur and traditional owner chats about: My Ngambri mob and looking after country|date=9 August 2012|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140427080454/http://www.nit.com.au/component/content/archive.html?year=2012&month=8|archivedate=27 April 2014|url-status=live|publisher=National Indigenous Times Newspaper}} Mortimer lived unaware of his aboriginality until 1989, when he discovered a maternal line going back to Ngambri woman Ju Nin Mingo, daughter of James Ainslie.{{cite news|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|first1=Virginia|last1=Jones |first2=Annie|last2=Schubert|date=7 July 2011|url=http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2011/07/07/3263280.htm|title=Indigenous Canberra: Connecting the dots|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131112212223/http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2011/07/07/3263280.htm|archivedate=12 November 2013}}{{cite news|newspaper=The Australian|first=Ross|last=Bilton|date=9 March 2013|title=Heart of the Nation: Mount Taylor 2606|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/heart-of-the-nation-mount-taylor-2606/story-e6frg8h6-1226593171250|archivedate=21 June 2013|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130621091603/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/heart-of-the-nation-mount-taylor-2606/story-e6frg8h6-1226593171250}} His grandmother Adelaide McClelland had been taken from her mother Florence Ellen Lowe at the Brungle Mission, prior to the First World War. She was one of the thousands of stolen Aboriginal children to be forcibly removed from their parents under legislation that operated in Australia between 1910 and 1970.
Mortimer has been living in the Canberra area since the early 1990s. In 2009–10 he co-produced his first feature film, Vulnerable,{{cite web|url=http://www.vulnerablethemovie.com/castandfilmmakers.htm|title=Cast & Filmmakers|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140427080713/http://www.vulnerablethemovie.com/castandfilmmakers.htm|archivedate=27 April 2014|url-status=live}} and he is currently working on a 13-part documentary series on native Australian grasslands. He is also Chairman of the Ag-Arts Residency Kenmore Limited.{{cite news|url=http://www.nit.com.au/news/1697-wind-farming-is-invalid-claims-ngambri-leader.html|title=Wind farming is invalid, claims Ngambri leader|date=23 August 2012|newspaper=National Indigenous Times|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140427081436/http://www.nit.com.au/news/1697-wind-farming-is-invalid-claims-ngambri-leader.html|archivedate=27 April 2014|url-status=live}}
Campaigns
=Campaigning against biomass and wind farms=
Mortimer is an active campaigner against wind farms.{{cite news|url=http://www.goulburnpost.com.au/story/1593201/protestors-send-wind-up-them/|title=Protestors send wind up them|date=24 June 2013|newspaper=Goulburn Post|archivedate=8 October 2013|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131008123835/http://www.goulburnpost.com.au/story/1593201/protestors-send-wind-up-them/}}{{cite news|url=http://www.goulburnpost.com.au/story/352848/local-elder-vs-wind-industry/|title=Local elder vs. wind industry|first=Stephen|last=Hagan|date=24 September 2012|newspaper=Goulburn Post|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140301010247/http://www.goulburnpost.com.au/story/352848/local-elder-vs-wind-industry/|archivedate=1 March 2014}} He claims that biomass and wind farms are destroying wildlife habitats, adversely impacting on Indigenous communities and do not produce any environmental benefit.{{cite web|url=http://stopthesethings.com/2013/06/28/rally-shane-mortimer/|title=Rally – Shane Mortimer|date=28 June 2013|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131007044944/http://stopthesethings.com/2013/06/28/rally-shane-mortimer/|archivedate=7 October 2013}} He is also concerned the wind power industry has ignored Native Title rights.{{cite news|newspaper=National Indigenous Times|title=Elder halts wind farm project|url=http://www.nit.com.au/news/1862-elder-halts-wind-farm-project.html|date=13 September 2012|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140427080856/http://www.nit.com.au/news/1862-elder-halts-wind-farm-project.html|archivedate=27 April 2014|url-status=live}} Mortimer also believes wind farms in the vicinity of Lake George will diminish the fertility of sheep and cattle grazing in the area.{{cite news|url=http://citynews.com.au/2012/lake-art-confronts-the-turbines/|title=Lake art confronts the turbines|publisher=Canberra CityNews|date=27 November 2012|first=Helen|last=Musa|archivedate=16 October 2013|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016171827/http://citynews.com.au/2012/lake-art-confronts-the-turbines/}}
He has supported protests against construction of Cullerin Range Wind Farm, Capital Wind Farm, Crookwell Wind Farm and Gullen Range Wind Farm.{{cite web|url=http://www.nowuc.com.au/2013/05/local-politics-of-wind-farms/|title=Local Politics of Wind Farms|date=15 May 2013|archivedate=8 October 2013|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131008123415/http://www.nowuc.com.au/2013/05/local-politics-of-wind-farms/}}
=Lobbying the Australian War Memorial for greater recognition of Aboriginal Australians=
Mortimer lobbied Brendan Nelson, Director of the Australian War Memorial, on the Memorial's refusal to depict Australian frontier wars.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/12/australian-war-memorial-ignores-frontier-war|first=Paul|last=Daley|title=Why does the Australian War Memorial ignore the frontier war?|newspaper=The Guardian|date=12 September 2013|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131009015144/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/12/australian-war-memorial-ignores-frontier-war|archivedate=9 October 2013}}
=Lobbying to regenerate Australian indigenous perennial grasses=
Mortimer argues that, for a sustainable future, native grasslands must be left to regenerate in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).{{cite web|title=Appendix 9: Quote from Mr Shane Mortimer, of the Ngambri People|url=http://www.envcomm.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/169266/ocse_actgrasslandreport_0309_appendix09.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510180633/http://www.envcomm.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/169266/ocse_actgrasslandreport_0309_appendix09.pdf|archivedate=10 May 2013|work=Report of the Grassland Forum|publisher=ACT Government|first=Shane|last= Mortimer|date=20 May 2010}} In 2012 he told the National Indigenous Times that 10 per cent regeneration of the degraded indigenous grasslands in Australia would take more carbon out of the world's atmosphere than has been put there since the Industrial Revolution.
For environmental reasons, Mortimer has unsuccessfully sought to block land developments in the ACT, including the greenfield suburb of Lawson in Belconnen.{{cite news|newspaper=The Canberra Times|url=http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/another-court-loss-for-elder-on-native-title-crusade-20130619-2oi2h.html|first=Michael |last=Inman|title=Another court loss for elder on native title crusade|date=19 June 2013|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201185055/http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/another-court-loss-for-elder-on-native-title-crusade-20130619-2oi2h.html|archivedate=1 February 2014}} He also supports urban infill in the territory, suggesting that for environmental reasons the ACT needs to develop housing on top of existing infrastructure instead of building on the fringes of Canberra.{{cite news|newspaper=The Canberra Times|title=Fringe development fight an infill boost|first=Stephanie|last= Anderson|url=http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/fringe-development-fight-an-infill-boost-20120424-1xjlc.html|date=25 April 2012|archivedate=4 May 2012|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120504191758/http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/fringe-development-fight-an-infill-boost-20120424-1xjlc.html}}
Civil disobedience
=Illegal parking=
Mortimer amasses parking tickets, often parking his van illegally in the Australian Capital Territory as an act of civil disobedience; he reasons that because the land is his people's land he should be allowed to park for free.{{cite web|first=Paul|last=Daley|url=http://meanjin.com.au/articles/post/territorial-disputes/|title=Territorial Disputes|archivedate=20 August 2013|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130820204451/http://meanjin.com.au/articles/post/territorial-disputes/|year=2013}}
=Providing an illegal housing authorisation=
In 2012, Mortimer issued an 'authorisation certificate' in defiance of ACT laws to a local University student living on a raft in Lake Ginninderra.{{cite web|title=Elders say teepee man can stay|url=http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/elders-say-teepee-man-can-stay-20120321-1vj7n.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120502073023/http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/elders-say-teepee-man-can-stay-20120321-1vj7n.html|archivedate=2 May 2012|work=The Canberra Times|first=Stephanie|last=Anderson|date=21 March 2012}}{{cite news|url=http://news.domain.com.au/act-news/third-time-lucky-as-teepee-man-accepts-housing-deal-20120412-1wwy3.html|title=Third time lucky as teepee man accepts housing deal|first=Stephanie|last=Anderson|date=13 April 2012|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029193254/http://news.domain.com.au/act-news/third-time-lucky-as-teepee-man-accepts-housing-deal-20120412-1wwy3.html|archivedate=29 October 2013}} The certificate stated that the student was 'authorised to occupy Lake Ginninderra or any other lake estuary or wetland he may so choose upon to reside as suits his needs in Ngambri country.'
Comments on racism
In 2012, Mortimer filed a claim for $6 million worth of damages for alleged racism after Professor Don Aitkin, former National Capital Authority chairman, wrote that Mortimer looked "about as Aboriginal as I do".{{cite news|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/policy/not-fair-indigenous-identity-back-in-court/story-fn9hm1pm-1226514765175#|title=Not fair: indigenous identity back in court|first=Julie|last=Hare|date=12 November 2012|newspaper=The Australian}}{{cite news|title=Shane Mortimer is facing a particularly busy Thursday|newspaper=National Indigenous Times|date=27 March 2013}} Mortimer sought $500,000 in personal damages and a further $5.5 million to be paid to the not-for-profit of which he is chairman, Agriculture Arts Residency Kenmore Limited (AARK).{{cite news|url=http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/aitkin-sued-over-alleged-slur-20121110-295ip.html|title=Aitkin sued over alleged slur|date=11 November 2012|first=Ewa|last=Kretowicz|newspaper=The Canberra Times|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201164958/http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/aitkin-sued-over-alleged-slur-20121110-295ip.html|archivedate=1 February 2014}} Mortimer said that Aitkin's blog belittled him, discredited his aboriginality intentionally and cast doubt on his community standing.
Aitkin refused to retract his statement, saying "there is nothing offensive in saying that Shane Mortimer doesn't look Aboriginal because looking Aboriginal isn't one of the criteria. The criteria are, do you claim to be, and are you accepted by others as one." Aboriginal Northern Territory parliamentarian Bess Price said Mortimer was "silly" to be offended by Aitkin's comments.{{cite news|newspaper=National Indigenous Times|url=http://www.nit.com.au/news/2237-mortimer-hits-back-at-critics.html|title=Mortimer hits back at critics |date=20 November 2012|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140427081103/http://www.nit.com.au/news/2237-mortimer-hits-back-at-critics.html|archivedate=27 April 2014|url-status=live}}
Mortimer refused to take part in an ACT Government Aboriginal genealogy project in 2011–12, saying the project was divisive and racist.{{cite news|title=Indigenous genealogy report branded racist|url=http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/indigenous-genealogy-report-branded-racist-20120106-1ucya.html|newspaper=The Canberra Times|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131008042606/http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/indigenous-genealogy-report-branded-racist-20120106-1ucya.html|archivedate=8 October 2013|date=6 January 2012}}{{cite web|url=http://caama.com.au/traditional-owner-challenges-genealogy-report|title=Traditional owner challenges genealogy report.|date=10 January 2012|archivedate=29 March 2012|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120329173531/http://caama.com.au/traditional-owner-challenges-genealogy-report|publisher=Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{refbegin}}
- {{cite web|title=Ngambri Country (interview with Shane Mortimer)|url=http://pool.abc.net.au/media/ngambri-country|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130403114046/http://pool.abc.net.au/media/ngambri-country|archivedate=3 April 2013|work=Sound Design and Production at the University of Canberra|publisher=ABC Pool|author=Reinfrank|author2=Shane Mortimer |date=16 November 2012}}
- {{cite news|title=Kenmore for sale|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2010/05/14/2900190.htm?site=illawarra|date=14 May 2010|publisher=ABC Illawarra|archivedate=8 October 2013|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131008231512/http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2010/05/14/2900190.htm?site=illawarra}}
- {{cite web|url=http://keystone.collectionsaustralia.net/publisher/Outreach/?p=5209|archivedate=25 May 2010|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100525131907/http://keystone.collectionsaustralia.net/publisher/Outreach/?p=5209|title=Uncertain future for Kenmore Hospital Museum site, Goulburn|date=May 2010|publisher=Collections Australia Network (CAN)}}
{{refend}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mortimer, Shane}}