The Mabo decision was named after Eddie Mabo, the That word is emblazoned still at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy on the lawns of the Old Parliament House in Canberra. Of invasion. More information. At: http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/table-1-human-development-index-and-its-components#a (viewed 9 June 2015). I walked into the news meeting at the ABC with words. To make agreements. Words speak across tongues. "If Koiki Mabo were alive today he would be an angry man," says Malezer. 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". [12] Native Title Act 1993 (Cth), preamble. I like how the words create a rhythm. Importantly, the Roundtable highlighted that despite previous promises around compensation for historical dispossession, this has not yet materialized. It was on 3 June 1992 that the Australian High Court overturned more than 200 years of white domination of land ownership. Three bound volumes regarding the determination of a reference from the High Court of Australia of the factual issues raised in the action by Eddie Mabo and others - prepared by Justice Moynihan. Typical of such awards, the citations are generally understated and this is particularly so in your case. As Kevin Mason divedin the ocean, a compliance officer waswatching on the cliffs above. This issue of transfer, usability and conversion of title threw up many challenges around how to retain underlying customary title but make it usable in the modern sense. They then said to tell you they are aware of your continued fight for your culture and your country and salute you for your ongoing struggle. But he was wrong. He knew about hope and he knew about justice. [10] UN Development Programme, Human Development Index, UN Human Development Report, p237. It contains just 10 articles on what the instrument describes as an, inalienable right, by which every human person and all peoples are entitled to participate in, contribute to and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development, in which all human rights and fundamental freedoms can be fully realised.[6]. This is yet another reason why a development approach is so urgently needed. The Declaration incorporates four fundamental human rights principles that can be categorised as: However, the UN Declaration on the Right to Development has been a lesser-known cousin to the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We will adapt, we will take advantage of these opportunities and we will leave a great legacy. OM95-26 Mabo Cutting Books 1990-1994 - (2 vols.) 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. These organisations could assist in under-writing costs, insurance and risk as well as helping explore options for Indigenous specific loan products. The issue of compensation goes to the core of the initial intent of addressing the historical dispossession of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from their lands and waters. A human rights based approach has been a key part of advocacy of all Social Justice Commissioners. (2010 lecture transcript). On 3 June 1992, the High Court of Australia ruled in favour of limited native title. The world of becoming ascends. 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. He was another victim of Terra Nullius, like so many of his fellow indigenous people had been before him. That was Eddie Mabos gift. Nor did the judges intend that it should. Governance has always been at the core of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and our community life. He would later describe his time on the island as 'the best time of my life'1. 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. The truth: This was his land. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that this resource and resource page may contain the image, name or voice of deceased persons. Eddie Mabo knew about love too. It is a feeling. This push for economic independence has sought to move away from models of government dependency and have been premised largely on the use of our land as the basis to achieve this. Elders saythe wateris now a battleground. I like words. The Murray Islands Mabo v Queensland (No 2) (commonly known as the Mabo case or simply Mabo) is a landmark decision of the High Court of Australia that recognised the existence of Native Title in Australia. In fact, the court went to considerable lengths to establish that the impact of its judgment will be minimal on non-Aboriginal Australians. Transcript notes - MABO, Eddie, RICE, James v State of Queensland and Commonwealth of Australia, ITM1641344 In conversations with Commissioner Wilson and others, we are in the midst of developing what the next step in this process should look like and we will continue to engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples such as yourselves in order to do this. 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. It does not create any new rights, but rather reaffirms the rights that exist in many other international treaties and conventions. This landmark decision led to the Australian Government introducing native title . Credit: Alex Ellinghausen No wonder Mr Abbott was visibly moved as he thanked "Aunty Gail" for . What did Eddie Mabo say in his speech? Later in 1992, Mabo was posthumously awarded the Australian Human Rights Medal. But we know that these scales do not capture the social disadvantage experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. During this time he enrolled as a student and studied teaching at the College of Advanced Education, which later amalgamated with JCU. Read about our approach to external linking. Six weeks later his father died. [2] Australian Human Rights Commission, Paper on Indigenous Leaders Roundtable, Property Rights, p4. So today it is indeed an honour for both my people and myself to be presenting this year's Edward Koiki Mabo Lecture. Born in 1936, he grew up in the village of Las on the north bend of Mer Island. On 3 June 1992, six of the seven High Court judges upheld the claim and ruled that the lands of . the belief that Australia and its islands belonged to no-one when claimed by the British in 1770) in a landmark court . Friendship with Eddie Mabo. I have previously spoken at length about the importance of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which contains 46 articles on the rights that Indigenous peoples all around the world hold. 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 ! When I looked over the lives of these two great Australians I was struck by the similarities of their struggles and the qualities they each share. 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. On 8 December 1988, the High Court ruled this legislation invalid. (2012 lecture transcript), 2011 Presentation by Mr Mick Gooda, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner. (2012) This program was published 2 years ago. 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. It felt in this case that the time had come. According to his daughter Gail Mabo, it 'fuelled his determination for recognition and equality in society'. 2. Financing economic development within the Indigenous estate. 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. Les Malezer, chairman of the Foundation for Aboriginal and Islander Research Action, is critical of the native title system for its failure to deliver for indigenous people. The second key theme that was raised at the roundtable was the issue of financing economic development within the Indigenous estate. Then, in June 1992, the years of sacrifice and persuasion came to fruition. Yindyamarra winanghanha. The High Court is the highest court in Australia's judicial system. Judged by any civilised standard, such a law is unjust ". That nearly a third of our land mass is Indigenous owned is testament to this. The debate about Mabo's legacy still goes on today, Many indigenous Australians still live in poverty, Bakhmut attacks still being repelled, says Ukraine, AOC under investigation for Met Gala dress, Mother who killed her five children euthanised, Canadian grandma helps police snag phone scammer, The children left behind in Cuba's exodus, Zoom boss Greg Tomb fired without cause. 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. Eddie Mabo was a staff member at JCU, working as a groundsman from 1967 to 1971. It would most likely still be in place had it not been for Eddie Koiki Mabo. 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. He knew about hope and he knew about justice. "Koiki was ambitious for himself and for his people." 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. Choose from the list of topics on the left and then choose 'Click to Play'. 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. Mabo v Queensland (No 1) was heard in 1986and 1988. It is lament. 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. 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. 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. Concocted by the early settlers, it was used, systematically, cynically and effectively to deprive the indigenous people of their own land. [6] UN Declaration on the Right to Development, Article 1, para 1. What's the least amount of exercise we can get away with? 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. He is hardworking and determined, but at the cost of his family life. (2011 lecture transcript), 2010 Presentation by Professor Chris Sarra. 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. I was there as a young associate working for a judge, and saw the jubilation and relief of . JCU websites use cookies to enhance user experience, analyse site usage, and assist with outreach and enrolment. The court dismissed his challenge to Australian sovereignty, but in his opinion Justice Lionel Murphy rattled the bones of the Australian settlement. " Eddie Mabo was a staff member at JCU, working as a groundsman from 1967 to 1971. Words like han. And in 1981, Eddie was invited by the same university to make a speech about Mer's land inheritance system. 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". This our ancestors did, according to the reckoning of our culture, from the Creation, according to the common law from "time immemorial", and according to science more than 60,000 years ago. 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. As the Broome Roundtable highlighted, this remains one of the key unresolved issues facing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and their quest for ongoing economic development. In New South Wales, the most populous state, Aboriginal people have title over only 0.1% of the land. I'd also like to thank AIATSIS for the invitation to speak today and in doing that can I congratulate you Russell on receiving your recent Member of the Order of Australia award. The remarkable life story of Eddie 'Koiki' Mabo; a Torres Strait Islander who left school at the age of 15, yet spearheaded the High Court challenge that overthrew the fiction of terra nullius. Rob was at the forefront of the fight for land in Western Australia, particularly at Nookanbah and when the WA Government led the resistance to national land rights legislation. There was something of destiny in the air. 2004 Presentation by Fr Frank Brennan SJ AO. Mabo ended up on the mainland working a number of jobs, including labouring on the railways. Mabo Day & Native Title: Who was Eddie Mabo & what is his legacy? "The golden house of is collapses. Mabo tells the story of one of Australia's national heroes - Eddie Koiki Mabo, the Torres Strait Islander man who left school at age 15, yet spearheaded the High Court challenge that overthrew the fiction of terra nullius. A case was made, and took 10 years to reach a decision. Mabo: Life of an Island Man is a 1997 Australian documentary film on the life of Indigenous Australian land rights campaigner Eddie Koiki Mabo.. It remains a collection of canvas and tin, but it has grown in those years since a handful of young Aboriginal activists planted a beach umbrella and wrote the word Embassy on a manila folder, to shake a fist at the power on the hill. 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. Eddie Koiki Mabo presents a guest lecture about the Torres Strait Islander community 2,837 views Nov 18, 2020 51 Dislike Share Save JCU Library 451 subscribers This short video is an excerpt. So, in many ways, the victory has been more symbolic than practical. The judges satisfied themselves that Aboriginal people had been in Australia first, did have a long, rich culture that denoted civilisation and had voluminous evidence of land demarcation, usage and inheritance, to back up their claims of longevity and history. In August 1981 Mabo attended a conference on land rights at James Cook University. And he knew truth. Truth. Here we are 30 years later, still on that journey. There were three key components to this: As you will know, the first two of these three components have been implemented, with varying degrees of success and impact on our communities over the years.