Can I also acknowledge all you here today who have come together to work out how we can access our land, seas and waters easier and quicker, but who have also come to talk to each other about how we can make better use of our estates to make life a little better for the rest of our mob out there. 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. Hide message. 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. Resting Place of Eddie Mabo. 1h 43m. 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. The victory was largely down to one indigenous man called Eddie Mabo. Bonita 'Netta' Mabo: Eddie's wife and is a resourceful, supportive and loving woman. Importantly, the Roundtable highlighted that despite previous promises around compensation for historical dispossession, this has not yet materialized. 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. And in some cases native title had become a millstone, almost drowning people in a sea of regulation, red tape and process without any semblance of necessary support. I think much of the dialogue on this issue in Australia has revolved around how to protect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from development as opposed to how to realize our rights to development and the associated benefits that come with it. In 2014, Australia ranked second after Norway, in the United Nations Human Development Index,[9] a position that would seem to indicate that we all enjoy a quality of life superior to most others in the world. But that hasn't stopped indigenous people, like Queensland elder Douglas Bon, taking great satisfaction in the ruling. He also co-operated with members of the Communist Party, the only white political party to support Aboriginal campaigns at the time. Until that day, the legal fiction of terra nullius, the land belonging to no-one, had characterised Australian law and land titles since the voyage of Captain Cook. In the Shire of . eddie began his Journey on changing the rights by Making a speech at a land rights conference at the James Cook University his speech explained the traditional land owners and the inheritance system that . Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that the National Archives' website and collection contain the names, images and voices of people who have died. 5. In Torres Strait Islands called the Mabo case, for Eddie Mabo, the first-named plaintiff) brought by several individuals that was won in the High Court of Australia in 1992; subsequent cases were also settled in favour of other groups of islanders. One of the people who attended the conference, a lawyer, suggested they should make a case to claim land rights through the court system. 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. Finally, the remaining key theme of the meeting was the issue of our right as Indigenous peoples to development. There will be many words between now and then. Eddie Mabo and Gerard Brennan overturned the terra nullius policy and changed Australia forever. 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. Friends we are the First Peoples of this country and we are the oldest living culture in the world because of our ability to adapt to ever changing environments and circumstances. In 1959, he moved to mainland Queensland, working on pearling vessels and as a labourer. [10] UN Development Programme, Human Development Index, UN Human Development Report, p237. Today in the midst of winter there is still smoke from a campfire, framing a word spelled out on the lawn: Sovereignty. Topics are usually less than 2 minutes long. The 50-minute recording shows Koiki Mabo talking about the history of the Torres Strait Islander community, both in the Torres Strait and on the Australian mainland, and the long term impact on his culture of the coming of Europeans, from the first missionaries to current government administrators. 1992 High Court Mabo Case Decision No. 2 | Australia's migration Mabo (film) - Wikipedia Mabo : ABC iview 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. He was a Meriam man and grew up on Mer, part of the Murray Island Group in the Torres Strait. 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 Mabo - Kids | Britannica Kids | Homework Help What Exactly Is 'Mabo Day' And Why Is June 3 Such An - ELLE A case was made, and took 10 years to reach a decision. The decision. Nor did the judges intend that it should. From 1973-1983 he established and became director of the Black Community School in Townsville. I also acknowledge the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Nigel Scullion who is here today and my colleague Tim Wilson, our Australian Human Rights Commissioner. 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 8th of May in Perth. Mabo made a speech to the audience where he explained the indigenous customary land inheritance system on Murray Island. These skills will enable us to make better and informed decisions for maximum benefit and I look forward, as I am sure you do, to the release of IBAs investment principles, which they are currently developing in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and organisations across the country. It clearly did not, for instance, lead to vast numbers of white Australians being forced from their homes, businesses, mines or farms. However, most importantly of all, we are now faced with the challenge of how to make the most of our rights to land and native title once we have them, for our prosperity and sustainability. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are advised that this site may contain names, images or voices of people who have passed away. But it was a bittersweet moment for the indigenous population. The Mabo decision was a legal case held in 1992. Uncle Eddie 'Koiki' Mabo. The world of becoming ascends. Mabo expressed disbelief and shock. During this time he enrolled as a student and studied teaching at the College of Advanced Education, which later amalgamated with JCU. These organisations could assist in under-writing costs, insurance and risk as well as helping explore options for Indigenous specific loan products. While he believed the Murray Island belonged to the Torres Strait Islander people, Australian law stated that the Government owned the land. Until Mabo, we had been a forgotten people, even though we knew that we were in the right.". "He became a driven man," says his friend and documentary maker, Trevor Graham. Read about our approach to external linking. At 31, this affrontery became his epiphany. We cannot cross the same stream twice. He would later describe his time on the island as 'the best time of my life'1. 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. 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. In 1994 the Torres Strait Regional Authority (TSRA) was established in response to Read More These things range from various legal and administrative barriers that are placed on us once a native title determination has been made and includes various tax and regulatory standards placed on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in the post determination phase, conflicts between individual and communal property interests and issues arising from the conversion of title. I have heard it at dawn as the earth crackles, the river waters run, and the animals stir as the Sun peers above the hills and the light strikes the trees on my beloved Wiradjuri country. [9] UN Development Programme, Human Development Index, UN Human Development Report. They ruled that the Mabo decision in no way challenges the legality of non-Aboriginal land tenure. 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. This will always be our land. 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. Following his speech, he was approached by a lawyer, who asked if he'd be interested in taking the Australian Government to court to finally decide who owned the land. 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. Commemorating Mabo Day - Reconciliation Australia A world turning. We pay our respects to the people, their cultures and Elders past, present and emerging. 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. The great polish poetCzeslawMilosz said perhaps all memory is the memory of wounds. Two words showed something was wrong with the system, After centuries of Murdaugh rule in the Deep South, the family's power ends with a life sentence for murder, Flooding in southern Malaysia forces 40,000 people to flee homes, When Daniel picked up a dropped box on a busy road, he had no idea it would lead to the 'best present ever', Plans to redevelop 'eyesore' on prime riverside land fall apart as billionaires exit, Labor's pledge for mega koala park in south-west Sydney welcomed by conservation groups, Tom Sizemore, Saving Private Ryan actor, dies aged 61. And he was right. This needs to change. Mabo - as in Eddie Mabo, who famously fought a winning fight against the legal doctrine of terra nullius to enshrine Aboriginal land rights in law - is referenced on two occasions. Stan Grant is the ABC's international affairs analyst and presents China Tonight on Monday at 9:35pm on ABC TV, and Tuesday at 8pm on the ABC News Channel, anda co-presenter of Q+A on Thursday at 8:30pm. (2012 lecture transcript), 2011 Presentation by Mr Mick Gooda, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner. active, free and meaningful participation in development; self-determination and full sovereignty over natural wealth and resources. "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. 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. I have heard many stories from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and Traditional Owners about the many barriers they face in reaching their potential benefits under land rights and native title. Drama Biopic Inspiring. Two generations talk about the impact of the 1967 Referendum and the 1992 Mabo Decision . In a snapshot. Mabo/The Man/Land Rights Conference That permission was denied. The Roundtable included a diverse range of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, with nearly 50 people in total from as far and wide as the Torres Straits, the Gulf of Carpentaria, Cape York, Sydney, the Kimberley and Darwin. The next generation of native title issues are due to hit us shortly through processes such as litigation regarding ILUAs, variations to determinations and compensation proceedings.[2]. To Eddie Koiki Mabo and chief justice Sir Gerard Brennan. Edward Koiki (Eddie) Mabo - Australian Dictionary of Biography [11]Native Title Act 1993 (Cth), preamble. Eddie Mabo, the man behind Mabo Day | Indigenous.gov.au During this time he enrolled as a student and studied teaching at the College of Advanced Education, which later amalgamated with JCU. Promoting Indigenous peoples right to development. 2004 Presentation by Fr Frank Brennan SJ AO. Mabo Day is an official holiday in the Torres Shire, celebrated on 3 June. He had refused to surrender his interests, or those of his people, to the domination of others. Mabo, Edward Koiki (Eddie) (1936-1992) . Uncle Edward 'Koiki' Mabo was born in 1936, in Las on the island of Mer (Murray Island) in the Torres Strait to 'Robert' Zesou Sambo and 'Annie' Poipe, ne Mabo. The Keating government gave effect to the Mabo decision by introducing the Native Title Act 1993, which facilitated the process of recognising native title. On this great day, I, Prime Minister of Australia, speak to you on behalf of the Australian people all those who honour and love this land we live in. And he knew truth. 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. It is sadness beyond the word sadness itself. You Murray Islanders have won that court case. It was suggested that we, as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, needed to think outside of the box when it comes to this issue. (2010 lecture transcript). This was our land. Eddie Mabo Case Study - 1556 Words | 123 Help Me Mabo's love for his homeland drove the proud Torres Strait Islander to undertake a 10- year legal battle that rewrote Australia's history. A human rights based approach has been a key part of advocacy of all Social Justice Commissioners.