Shane Mortimer

Campaigns

Campaigning against biomass and wind farms Mortimer is an active campaigner against wind farms. He claims that biomass and wind farms are destroying wildlife habitats, adversely impacting on Indigenous communities and do not produce any environmental benefit. He is also concerned the wind power industry has ignored Native Title rights. Mortimer also believes wind farms in the vicinity of Lake George will diminish the fertility of sheep and cattle grazing in the area.

He has supported protests against construction of Cullerin Range Wind Farm, Capital Wind Farm, Crookwell Wind Farm and Gullen Range Wind Farm.

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.

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). 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. 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.

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.

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. 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.' 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). Mortimer said that Aitkin's blog belittled him, discredited his aboriginality intentionally and cast doubt on his community standing.

Mortimer refused to take part in an ACT Government Aboriginal genealogy project in 2011–12, saying the project was divisive and racist.