About 200 Indigenous protesters have met at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra to discuss the water crisis on the Murray-Darling river system.
Australians have been shocked after a million fish died along the Darling River at Menindee in NSW's west last month.
A task force of eminent scientists will investigate the how and why the fish died, including the potential impact of agricultural chemicals.
But many of those gathered at the Water is Life event, like Wiradjuri Elder Jenny Munro, blame mismanagement of the river system.
"The major fish kills really should be ringing alarm bells right across the country at the moment," she told NITV News.
"People have been taking water from those rivers illegally for a long period of time."
"The matter should be dealt with through the courts."
Amelia Telford, the creator of the Seed Indigenous Youth Climate Network, said that Indigenous people are fighting to have greater input about protecting the country's natural resources.
Indigenous people gather to talk about impacts on their countries. Source: NITV News
“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people right across the country [are] being impacted by the destruction of country, drought, poisoned water, devastation that has impacted our people since colonisation,” she told NITV News.
“So we are coming together to be able to discuss what’s going on and to be able to stand up and have our voices heard and to build some plans on how we are going to take action to build some strong sustainable self-determining communities where our people get to have a say about what happens to our country.”
