A Howard government lawyer involved in planning a nuclear waste storage site has been accused of manipulating the legal system to make sure it goes ahead.

Traditional land-owners from indigenous clans have challenged the Ngapa clan's offering of a section of Muckaty Station in the Northern Territory, which they allocated as a dump site.

Other groups have argued that they did not consent to the nomination, and have questioned a $200,000 payment to small group of participants in negotiations.

Lawyers for the traditional owners say that Mr Ron Levy – who was then the chief legal counsel for the Northern Land Council – “personally edited” anthropologists’ views in a Council report. The submitted report concluded that only the Ngapa Lauder clan owned the site.

They claim Mr Levy wrote an entirely new section in the final report, to reflect his view that the Land Commissioner did not have to rely on previous decision over land claims, “if relevant material was before the commissioner”.

Ron Merkel, QC, for the traditional owners, said that he did this “(so) that the Lauder Ngupas would be recognised by the Northern Land Council as the only traditional owners of the site so their consent could be secured”.

Steven Donaghue, QC, for the Commonwealth, called the argument a “conspiracy” in his opening address. He said the site was named as belonging to the Ngapa Lauders when Commonwealth officers visited it, and that there were numerous senior members of other clans present, which all had an interest in Muckaty Station.

The Federal Court in Melbourne also heard Commonwealth authorities had brought land-owners on a number of tours at Australia’s sole nuclear reactor in Lucas Heights, Sydney, to explain what sort of waste would be stored.

Mr Merkel told the Court that a $200,000 up-front payment to a narrow group of indigenous families was not part of the negotiated package, but was “the only payment to go directly into pockets”.