A Wiradjuri elder who tried to claim back land owned by a regional university has failed to defend trespass and property damage charges by asserting his Indigenous sovereignty rights.

Paul Wayne Towney was charged with entering enclosed lands and damaging property after he refused to leave a vacant block near the Charles Sturt University campus at Orange, central western NSW, in February.

He cut a chain to access the property, owned by the university, and displayed a sign saying, "Wiradjuri nation sovereignty lands no unauthorised entry permitted".

Towney appeared in Orange Local Court on Tuesday, where he did not dispute the prosecution's statement of facts, agreeing that he entered the property and damaged the chain.

But he refused to sign the statement, saying he was within his righ

See Full Page