This achievement certainly encourages me. That permission was denied. And that is the cost to both men and their families. The Mabo case Records relating to the Mabo case About Eddie Mabo Edward Koiki Mabo was born on 29 June 1936. To make agreements. At 31, this affrontery became his epiphany. And in 1981, Eddie was invited by the same university to make a speech about Mer's land inheritance system. It was during a stint as a gardener at the James Cook University at Townsville in Queensland, that his eyes were opened to the greatest injustice his people had ever been subjected to. It is clear that the current system has not delivered what had initially been intended to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. (2012 lecture transcript), 2011 Presentation by Mr Mick Gooda, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner. "I think that like many others, I was trying to deal with something that was new, that was undefined," Kennett told The Age newspaper. Eddie Koiki Mabo at Las, Murray Island, 1989 On 3 June 1992 the High Court of Australia recognised that a group of Torres Strait Islanders, led by Eddie Mabo, held ownership of Mer (Murray Island). He told them of his dream of ending his days on Murray Island, on the ancestral land that had been handed down through his family for 15 generations. The earliest papers on the Murray Island land claim are a manuscript and typescript of a speech by Mabo at the Land Rights and Future of Australian Race Relations Conference at James Cook University in 1981. From 1973-1983 he established and became director of the Black Community School in Townsville. Participants in Broome identified there was a real need to have a new conversation with Government around Indigenous land and property rights and how this might translate into sustainable economic development. Mabo Day & Native Title: Who was Eddie Mabo & what is his legacy? A documentary, Mabo: Life of an Island Man, directed by Trevor Graham, was released in 1997 and received the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Documentary. On 8 December 1988, the High Court ruled this legislation invalid. On 3 June 1992, six of seven Australian High Court judges ruled: The Meriam people are entitled as against the whole world to possession, occupation, use and enjoyment of the lands of the Murray Islands [in Torres Strait]. Transcript notes - MABO, Eddie, RICE, James v State of Queensland and Commonwealth of Australia, ITM1641344 A number of key challenges that face Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were explored, particularly when it comes to the full realization of our rights under land rights and native title. This is our land. This landmark decision led to the Australian Government introducing native title . As Eddie Mabo sketched out his plans to shake the foundations of Australian law, he told his daughter his prophecy: "One day, all of Australia will know my name." 23 Nov 1990 - 21 Oct 1994 Library at the University College of Townsville, Queensland. That is, after 20 years of operation, we finally saw the first time compensation had been awarded for the extinguishment of native title rights and interests under the Native Title Act. It was also a flagrant disregard of Britain's own existing laws, which stated that the Aboriginal people did have title rights over their own land. In 1974, he became involved in a discussion with two academics. 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." More Information .We are closed in a box. As Noel Pearson has recently said in relation to this issue: Were moving from a land rights claim phase to a land rights use phase where people are grappling with how we make our land contribute to our development.[3]. The Mabo verdict was arguably the most significant court ruling in the history of Indigenous Australia, overturning the concept of terra nullius and paving the way for native title. British law was the law of the colony and usurped and superseded Aboriginal law. Typical of such awards, the citations are generally understated and this is particularly so in your case. 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. You can find it still, somewhere buried in the archives of ABC News. Ten years later, he conceded his fears were unfounded. Their hard fought battle against the Queensland government finally consigned the lie of terra nullius to the historical dustbin and recognised the unique rights that we hold as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to our traditional land and waters. He spoke of impermanence: He knew things did not last and yet we do. Resting Place of Eddie Mabo. However, the social justice package, which was meant to address compensation for the dispossession of land and the dispersal of the Indigenous population remains unfulfilled.[4]. But that's just 11% of Australia's land mass. Mr Mabo died in 1992 just months before his 10-year legal battle for native title rights proved successful. 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. De Rose Hill is a landmark case because it represents a significant moment in time in the native title space. (No. I was no lawyerbut I knew I sensed this was different. Eddie Mabo would not live to see his final victory, but in that judgement he became immortal. I walked into the news meeting at the ABC with words. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work. We leave base camp and start our trek across this vast country. 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. How might this case shatter the myth of terra nullius? Mabo 20 years on: did it change the nation? Eddie Koiki Mabo died of cancer on 21 January 1991, before the case was resolved. Keating begins by discussing the moral and legal implications of the decision. Short for Mabo and others v Queensland (No 2) (1992), the Mabo case, led by Eddie Koiki Mabo, an activist for the 1967 Referendum, fought the legal concept that Australia and the Torres Strait Islands were not owned by Indigenous peoples because they did not 'use' the land in ways Europeans believed constituted some kind of legal possession. He's recorded as saying: "No way, it's not theirs, it's ours." He petitioned, campaigned, cajoled and questioned Terra Nullius for 18 years. 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. The Mabo Case Eddie Mabo is widely known for his plight to regain land rights for both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Legacy of Eddie Mabo. He was right. Then, in June 1992, the years of sacrifice and persuasion came to fruition. But that hasn't stopped indigenous people, like Queensland elder Douglas Bon, taking great satisfaction in the ruling. Eddie Mabo was a staff member at JCU, working as a groundsman from 1967 to 1971. Born on 29 June 1936 in his village of Las on the island of Mer in the Torres Strait, Eddie Koiki Mabo was the fourth child of Robert Zesou Sambo and Poipe (Sambo) Mabo. Eddie Koiki Mabo was an advocate of the 1967 Referendum, fighting for equal rights including education. You may have heard that Tim Wilson, Human Rights Commissioner and I recently co-convened a roundtable on Yawuru country on the issue of Indigenous property rights. Promoting Indigenous peoples right to development. Birthdays, anniversaries, sports events and special schools days were missed. Mabo ended up on the mainland working a number of jobs, including labouring on the railways. Eddie Mabo's dream had come true; a meeting of minds to address the issue of Aboriginal land . 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 . That word is emblazoned still at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy on the lawns of the Old Parliament House in Canberra. Alex Murdaugh jailed for life for double murder, Why the disgraced lawyer was spared death penalty, Saving Private Ryan actor Tom Sizemore dies at 61, The children left behind in Cuba's mass exodus, Xi Jinping's power grab - and why it matters, Snow, Fire and Lights: Photos of the Week. Without this foundation, there would be no opportunity for us to access these rights through this unique form of land tenure. To strengthen our democracy as Eddie Mabo strengthened our law. I like words. But he was wrong. The tools to guide us with a new conversation with Government around the full realization of our rights in relation to land and native title can be found in the UN Declarations on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Right to Development. 10. About 800 kilometers north of Cairns sits the small remote community of Mer (Murray) Island in the crystal blue waters of the Torres Strait. In 1979 Wiradjuri man and law student Paul Coewalked the path that Eddie Mabo would follow all the way to the High Court of Australia. 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But who was Eddie Mabo, why did he take up what must have seemed like a hopeless cause and what is the legacy of his campaign? To seek justice we had to speak the words of British law. As a nation, this is an improvement from fourth position just over ten years ago in 2003.[10]. The nation remained diminished. 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The victory was largely down to one indigenous man called Eddie Mabo. 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. However, contemporary Indigenous governance needs recognises that we must now adjust our customary ways of governing to meet the expectations and regulations of non-indigenous laws and institutions. The fall of the golden house of is but not the end. Eddie Mabo knew about love too. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen No wonder Mr Abbott was visibly moved as he thanked "Aunty Gail" for . 2008 Presentation by The Hon. He had refused to surrender his interests, or those of his people, to the domination of others. 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. This is an edited extract of the 2022 Mabo Lecture, delivered by Stan Grant on June 3, 2022, to commemorate 30 years since the Mabo decision. He knew about hope and he knew about justice. It's the anniversary of a court decision that recognized for . He is best known for the two court cases that bear his name, Mabo v. Queensland (numbers 1 and 2). There was scepticism, even cynicism, but I was able to report the story. To sign treaties. Meriam history and culture were crucial to the success of the Mabo case. Read about our approach to external linking. "If ever a system could be called a government of laws," he said, "it is shown in the evidence before me.". I stand here proud to bring a message from my Elders. That's why the legal decision is universally known as "Mabo". At: http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/table-1-human-development-index-and-its-components#a (viewed 9 June 2015). Can I be indulgent and add a couple of others. 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. This case, I said thisman Mabo will change Australia. 3. Business development support and succession planning. While working as a gardener at James Cook University, he found out through two historians that, by law, he and his family did not own their land on Mer. We pay our respects to the people, their cultures and Elders past, present and emerging. Words. Those cases resulted in the acknowledgment that Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples had the right to claim the land they and their ancestors had lived on for thousands of years. Mabo rejected the more militant direct action tactics of the land rights movement, seeing the most important goal as being to destroy the legal justification for what he regarded as land theft. Later in 1992, Mabo was posthumously awarded the Australian Human Rights Medal. 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. Watch all your favourite ABC programs on ABC iview. Aboriginal Australians are celebrating the 20th anniversary of their landmark victory over land rights. (2011 lecture transcript), 2010 Presentation by Professor Chris Sarra. Hide message. Six weeks later his father died. By continuing to use this site, you are giving us consent to do this. He was, if you like, an Australian Nelson Mandela, someone who led his people in a struggle against incalculable odds, to what was rightfully theirs. Of invasion. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are advised that this site may contain names, images or voices of people who have passed away. Importantly, the Roundtable highlighted that despite previous promises around compensation for historical dispossession, this has not yet materialized. We acknowledge Aboriginal People and Torres Strait Islander People as the first inhabitants of the nation, and acknowledge Traditional Custodians of the Australian lands where our staff and students live, learn and work. When voices within democracies silenced and marginalised are demanding to be heard, we are bringing oursand challenging our democracy to examine itself and for our constitution to be seeded in the first footprints, not just the first settlers. the Aborigines did not give up their lands peacefully; they were killed or removed forcibly from the lands by United Kingdom forces or the European colonists in what amounted to attempted (and in Tasmania almost complete) genocide.". Another similarity is something that sometimes we do not acknowledge enough. In 1994 the Torres Strait Regional Authority (TSRA) was established in response to Read More Other cases persisted. For the love of his family and tradition, he fights for his land on Murray Island. Governance has always been at the core of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and our community life. Eddie Koiki Mabo was a Torres Strait Islander, known for his role in campaigning for Indigenous land rights and for the landmark decision of the High Court of Australia that overturned the legal doctrine of terra nullius ('land belonging to nothing, no one') which characterised Australian law with regards to land and title. Born in 1936, Mabo started life like so many other indigenous people, deprived of a meaningful education, denied access to whites-only buses, cinemas, even toilets. At http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/reports/264/hdr_2003_en_complete.pdf (viewed 9 June 2015). Indigenous Education and Research Centre Sign up for free to create engaging, inspiring, and converting videos with Powtoon. Of law. What's the least amount of exercise we can get away with? . The National Archives holds a diverse array of records relating to the Mabo case. "If Koiki Mabo were alive today he would be an angry man," says Malezer. Mabo said was that it is my fathers & grandfather's, grandmother's land, I am related to it, it is my identity. I have been honoured in the last six weeks by being asked to deliver both the Eddie Koiki Mabo Lecture here today and the Rob Riley Memorial Lecture on Friday the 8 th of May in Perth. Read about our approach to external linking. But he had to find words to speak a deeper truth even as he upheld the myth of terra nullius that Aboriginal people, he said, had a "subtle and elaborate system of law". Strengthening our relationships over lands, territories and resources: the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Climate change from the perspective of the Torres Strait, Beyond Mabo: Native Title and closing the gap, People, identity and place. The memory of wounds. We did not end. I like how the words create a rhythm. This effectively overturned the doctrine of terra nullius, which held that Australia didn't belong to anybody before European colonisation. 2006 Presentation by Professor Larissa Behrendt. This dispossession occurred largely without compensation, and successive governments have failed to reach a lasting and equitable agreement with Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders concerning the use of their lands.[12]. And he knew truth. Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? Today I want to talk about how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples can be the leaders to grasp new opportunities that will leave a legacy for generations to come. Even though these rights have been watered down over the years, they have enabled us to reach a point where we now own nearly a third of the entire Australian continent and I am told approximately 54% of places like the Northern Territory. It is clear that we have seen a change in momentum as far as this space is concerned. Reynolds writes: Suggested answer: While working as a grounds keeper at James Cook University in Townsville, Eddie learnt about Australian land ownership laws. Mabo was a Torres Strait islander from Mer (Murray Island), off Australia's north-east coast. A discussion of Mabo Day (June 3), which commemorates Torres Strait Islander activist Eddie Koiki Mabo and the historic Mabo decision, in which the High Court of Australia acknowledged Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' land rights. Mabo gained an education, became an activist for black rights and worked with his community to make sure Aboriginal children had their own schools. I had read about the case as it moved through the lower courts. According to accounts of the conversation, the two scholarly figures looked at each other and then, delicately, told Mabo that he didn't own the land and that it was Crown land. Judged by any civilised standard, such a law is unjust ". This was apartheid in Australia, not South Africa. [6] UN Declaration on the Right to Development, Article 1, para 1. [12] Native Title Act 1993 (Cth), preamble. When democracy is teetering and autocracy is rising. Make an Impact. He immediately saw the injustice of it and from then on dedicated his life to reversing it. [11]Native Title Act 1993 (Cth), preamble. Volume 1 (227pp), Volume 2 (58pp). I also acknowledge Meriam PBC Chair Mr Doug Passi. Why Alex Murdaugh was spared the death penalty, Why Trudeau is facing calls for a public inquiry, The shocking legacy of the Dutch 'Hunger Winter', Why half of India's urban women stay at home. We all know about the legacy of native title left by Meriam and Murray Islanders Edward Koiki Mabo, David Passi and James Rice. Our News It was awarded Best Documentary at the Australian Film Institute Awards and the Sydney Film Festival.It also received the Script Writing Award at the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards. Justice John Willis said: "In Australia it is the colonists not the Aborigines are the foreigners.". And he knew truth. 2004 Presentation by Fr Frank Brennan SJ AO. Rachel Perkins, director of the new film, says Mabo's is "an iconic story in the tradition of great Australian tales, how a man, his wife and his mates profoundly changed the nation".