Mabo vs Queensland possible Commonwealth interventions, 1991 (A14039, 7909), The Mabo Decision principles for a response, 1993 (A14217, 1042), Mabo responses to the outline of legislation, 1993 (A14217, 1322), Mabo collection at the National Library of Australia, Building trust in the public record policy, Getting started with information management. The Mabo decision was named after Eddie Mabo, the And he knew truth. Concocted by the early settlers, it was used, systematically, cynically and effectively to deprive the indigenous people of their own land. "The High Court, which is not elected by anybody, not accountable to anybody, had presumed to move into the legislative area to make a whole new law," he said. The golden house of is of culture and connection, of blood and dreaming, of time immemorial how the golden house of is collapses. Eddie's daughter, Gail Mabo remembers that day well. In going down this track we have to understand and have to get these institutions to understand that there is a fair dinkum business case for doing this because we have had enough of welfare and charity. It was through his association with JCU humanities and education staff, Professor Henry Reynolds and Associate Professor Noel Loos, that Eddie became interested in who owned the land on which his people lived, and in Native Title. Six weeks later his father died. Eddie Mabo and Gerard Brennan overturned the terra nullius policy and changed Australia forever. Eddie Mabo was a Torres Strait Islander activist. 2008 Presentation by The Hon. At: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/property-rights-will-help-economic-development-of-indigenous-australians/story-e6frg6z6-1227365821530 (viewed 3 June 2015), [4] T Calma, Native Title Report 2005, Australian Human Rights Commission, 2005, p82. The commitment to a land fund; and importantly, participation in decision-making underpinned by the concept of free, prior and informed consent and good faith. But that's just 11% of Australia's land mass. The nation remained diminished. Reynolds writes: Finally, the remaining key theme of the meeting was the issue of our right as Indigenous peoples to development. Bonita 'Netta' Mabo: Eddie's wife and is a resourceful, supportive and loving woman. I honour your Elders that have come before you, those that are here today and I wait in optimistic anticipation for those Elders who are yet to emerge. It does not create any new rights, but rather reaffirms the rights that exist in many other international treaties and conventions. The Court also recognised that all Indigenous people in Australia have rights to their land. The case presented by Eddie Mabo and the people of Mer successfully proved that Meriam custom and laws are fundamental to their traditional system of ownership and underpin their traditional rights and obligations in relation to land. My predecessor Dr Tom Calma explained the impact of never implementing a social justice package in 2008: this abyss is one of the underlying reasons why the native title system is under the strain it is under today[5]. the belief that Australia and its islands belonged to no-one when claimed by the British in 1770) in a landmark court . The Roundtable was held after there was significant interest on this issue when Commissioner Wilson and I undertook some consultations around the country last year. Mabo Day & Native Title: Who was Eddie Mabo & what is his legacy . This Declaration on the Right to Development was adopted by the General Assembly in 1986. The High Court is the highest court in Australia's judicial system. But despite the success of the '67 campaign, in 1972 Eddie Mabo still had to get permission from the Queensland authorities to visit his dying father on Mer Island. B12 of 1982 in the High Court of Australia). Transcript 3849 | PM Transcripts 2009 Presentation by Professor Ross Garnaut, Vice-Chancellor's Fellow and Professorial Fellow in Economics, The University of Melbourne, and Distinguished Professor, The Australian University. In acknowledging the traditional rights of the Meriam people to their land, the court also held that native title existed for all Indigenous people. We are still trying to find the words to equal the full measure of Eddie Mabo's devotion. Mabo's credibility as the primary witness for the case was savaged . Eddie Mabo was a staff member at JCU, working as a groundsman from 1967 to 1971. Eternal. Mabo's love for his homeland drove the proud Torres Strait Islander to undertake a 10- year legal battle that rewrote Australia's history. When the decision overturning Terra Nullius eventually came, the judges referred to the policy as "the darkest aspect of (our) national history" and one that left "a legacy of unutterable shame". But it was a bittersweet moment for the indigenous population. This will always be our land. That nearly a third of our land mass is Indigenous owned is testament to this. In his historic speech at Sydney's Redfern Park, then Prime Minister Paul Keaing said: "By doing away with the bizarre conceit that this continent had no owners prior to the settlement of Europeans, Mabo establishes a fundamental truth and lays the basis for justice." And it was this; hardly any compensation has come our way despite all of the fear mongering over the years about the rivers of compensation that would flow from the realization of our rights under land rights and native title. Eddie Mabo of Mer island in the Torres Strait spent a decade seeking official recognition of his people's ownership of Mer and on 3 June 1992, the High Court of Australia agreed, rejecting the doctrine that Australia was terra nullius (land belonging to no-one) at the time of European settlement. Edward Koiki Mabo was born on 29 June 1936. In 1981, Eddie Mabo delivered a speech at James Cook University in Queensland, where he challenged the widely accepted belief of ownership and inheritance of land on Murray Island. These legal challenges continued into the 20th century rulings maintained the legitimacy of the Crown but could not extinguish completely the Aboriginal claims. That is, how do we build on the underlying communal title to create options for our economic development? And he was right. You and I know all too well that we live shorter, poorer lives than our non-Aboriginal counterparts. The truth: This was his land. Gail Mabo and Prime Minister Tony Abbott during their visit to the grave of Eddie Mabo on Mer Island. On November 16, 1990, after a year of considering the facts of the case, Justice Moynihan delivered his written findings to the High Court of Australia. And in 1981, Eddie was invited by the same university to make a speech about Mer's land inheritance system. Few Australians then knew the name Eddie Mabo. 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Mabo (film) - Wikipedia [1] It was brought by Eddie Mabo against the State of Queensland and decided on 3 June 1992. Aunty Clara Ogleby, I begin by acknowledging and paying my respects to the Kuku Yalanji people, Traditional Owners of the place upon which we sit and talk today. No transcript available, 2016 Lecture Presentation by Professor N M Nakata, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Indigenous Education and Strategy, James Cook University (Transcript), 2016 Lecture Presentation by Professor N M Nakata, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Indigenous Education and Strategy, James Cook University (2016 Lecture Transcript), 2015 Presentation by The Hon. JCU websites use cookies to enhance user experience, analyse site usage, and assist with outreach and enrolment. Bryan Keon-Cohen was one of Eddie Mabo's barristers, and he gave a speech at Mabo's funderal in Townsville in Feb 1992 - he said: 'I confine myself here . Across language itself. In 1982, Eddie Mabo and four others began action seeking a legal declaratcion of their traditional land rights in the Murray islands of the Torres Strait, Tvn years later onL 3 June 1992, the High Court decided that his people were entitled as against the whole of ! This was apartheid in Australia, not South Africa. Henry Reynolds (historian) - Wikipedia The Mabo Case | AIATSIS By continuing to use this site, you are giving us consent to do this. Another key challenge that came out of the roundtable was the need to improve the capacity of our mobs to have the necessary advocacy; governance and risk management skills to successful engage in business and manage our estates in order to secure the best possible outcomes for our communities. (Transcript), 2014 Presentation byMs Shannan Dodson, Digital Campaign Manager, Recognise Australia. Eddie Mabo at James Cook University, early 1980s Series 8. Did we miss a chance for a treaty? Charles Passi reflects on the Mabo In August 1981 Mabo attended a conference on land rights at James Cook University. The assumptions were quite erroneous, of course, but Terra Nullius was set in unshakeable motion and stayed rooted in place for two hundred years, even though Aborigines had been in Australia for at least 40,000 years. This led to the subsequent High Court case, Mabo v Queensland (No 2), which was to determine the matter of the plaintiffs' land rights. Towards Reconciliation: The 1967 Referendum and Mabo (2011 lecture transcript), 2010 Presentation by Professor Chris Sarra. The significance of Mabo Day - ABC Education About 800 kilometers north of Cairns sits the small remote community of Mer (Murray) Island in the crystal blue waters of the Torres Strait. Edward 'Koiki' Mabo (1936-1992), Torres Strait Islander community leader and land rights campaigner, was born on 29 June 1936 at Las, on Mer, in the Murray group of islands, Queensland, the fourth surviving child of Murray Islands-born parents 'Robert' Zesou Sambo, seaman, and his wife 'Annie' Poipe, ne Mabo. This link is the basis of the ownership of the soil, or better, of sovereignty., "This is the torment of our powerlessness.". I hope that youll share with me the need to move this conversation forward, in order to best realise our rights under native title and the benefits that should follow from that. Mabo: Life of an Island Man is a 1997 Australian documentary film on the life of Indigenous Australian land rights campaigner Eddie Koiki Mabo.. British law under a British flag. Thank you Russell for your kind words of introduction. Later in 1992, Mabo was posthumously awarded the Australian Human Rights Medal. During this time he became involved in community and political organisations, such as the union movement and the 1967 Referendum campaign. Bibliography - History bibliographies - Cite This For Me The Mabo case Records relating to the Mabo case About Eddie Mabo Edward Koiki Mabo was born on 29 June 1936. Of invasion. That permission was denied. A panel of judges at the High Court ruled that Aboriginal people were the rightful custodians of the land. In the Shire of . Eddie Mabo (left) and . Typical of such awards, the citations are generally understated and this is particularly so in your case. This needs to change. I want to begin by honouring and quoting the words of the now late chief justice of the High Court of Australia, Sir Gerard Brennan,the words he wrote in his lead judgement in the Mabo case: The common law itself took from Indigenous inhabitants any right to occupy their traditional land, exposed them to deprivation of the religious, cultural and economic sustenance which the land provides, vested the land effectively in the control of the imperial authorities without any right to compensation and made the Indigenous inhabitants intruders in their own homes and mendicants for a place to live. More information. On 8 December 1988, the High Court ruled this legislation invalid. When our world is ablaze with conflict. Overwhelmingly, what participants told us at the Roundtable was that whilst there had been an expansion of the Indigenous estate since the commencement of the Native Title Act that it largely has not delivered sustainable outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. These are the traditional lands and waters of the Meriam people, and the final resting place of Eddie Mabo in Las Village. But without warriors such as Eddie, David and James, Rob and countless others, we would not be in the position regarding Indigenous land tenure that we are in today. He was another victim of Terra Nullius, like so many of his fellow indigenous people had been before him. In the context of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, Governments have committed themselves to the economic development of our communities. Transcript 9037 | PM Transcripts Mabo 20 years on: did it change the nation? There will be many words between now and then. active, free and meaningful participation in development; self-determination and full sovereignty over natural wealth and resources. He would later describe his time on the island as 'the best time of my life'1. The justices spoke of a legacy of "unutterable shame"and that the dispossession of Indigenous people was the darkest aspect of Australia's history. 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