"THE whole lot of us are against it," says Penny Phillips.

It's a long road from Tennant Creek to the imposing glass tower that houses the Federal Court in Melbourne, but the Aboriginal elder travelled for two days by bus to keep a court date yesterday.

For Ms Phillips and her fellow travellers, legal proceedings provide the best route to secure indigenous lands that have been earmarked by the federal government for a nuclear waste dump.

The proposed site at Muckaty Station, north of Tennant Creek, was nominated by the Northern Land Council in 2007.

But many traditional owners long associated with the land - Ms Phillip's father was a stockman who worked there - are vehemently opposed to such a dramatic transformation.

Not only would it destroy the environment, they say, but it is near to a men's site used for sacred initiation ceremonies.

"It's a men's site, we're not allowed to talk about it, but we care about the culture of the land," says Ms Phillips.

While much has been made of the environmental implications of building a nuclear waste facility at Muckaty, less understood is that the takeover "heralds a significant unwinding of Aboriginal land rights", according to Sydney lawyer George Newhouse.

"The Commonwealth's preparedness to accept and act upon a deeply flawed and contested nomination at Muckaty, a home to at least seven Aboriginal family groups, represents a retrograde move in the history of indigenous land rights."

Maurice Blackburn solicitor Elizabeth O'Shea says a nuclear dump in plain terms "will mean the traditional people cannot access the land again".

The two lawyers are among a high-octane legal team who have donated their time to advance the cause of the elders. The barristers involved include Melbourne QCs Ron Merkel and Julian Burnside.

A leading issue in the Federal Court challenge, defended by the federal government and Northern Land Council, is that key traditional owners will testify they were never consulted while others say that they were not properly consulted and never consented to the nomination.

The case - due to be heard before Justice Tony North, who famously presided over the Tampa asylum seeker case - is likely to proceed early next year.

"We will fight for the land," Ms Phillips declared as she disappeared into the cold Melbourne night to prepare for the return trip home.