Nor did the judges intend that it should. At: https://www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/document/publication/social_justice_native_title_report_2013.pdf (viewed 5 June 2015), [5] T Calma, Native Title Report 2008, Australian Human Rights Commission (2009), p 46. 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. Thank you Russell for your kind words of introduction. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. 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. Transcript notes - MABO, Eddie, RICE, James v State of Queensland and Commonwealth of Australia, ITM1641344 [1] It was brought by Eddie Mabo against the State of Queensland and decided on 3 June 1992. These often hamper the development and economic aspirations of the communities involved right from the start. Gail, to your Mum Bonita, to Eddie Junior, Wannee, Bethal, Celuia, Ezra, Mario, Malita, Malcolm, Jessie and to you Gail, can I pay special tribute to for the generosity of you all in giving your husband and Dad to us. Words like the Uluru Statement from the Heart: We, gathered at the 2017 National Constitutional Convention, coming from all points of the southern sky, make this statement from the heart: Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tribes were the first sovereign Nations of the Australian continent and its adjacent islands, and possessed it under our own laws and customs. 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. Eddie Mabo was a staff member at JCU, working as a groundsman from 1967 to 1971. Mabo made a speech to the audience where he explained the indigenous customary land inheritance system on Murray Island. This case, I said thisman Mabo will change Australia. 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. 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. 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. 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. Eddie Mabo knew about love too. What is this Eddie Mabo Biography Worksheet? Promoting Indigenous peoples right to development. To make agreements. 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. Eddie Mabo and Gerard Brennan overturned the terra nullius policy and changed Australia forever. But that hasn't stopped indigenous people, like Queensland elder Douglas Bon, taking great satisfaction in the ruling. When our world is ablaze with conflict. Others, mainly white opponents, regarded the judgement as a mistake. He was a Meriam man and grew up on Mer, part of the Murray Island Group in the Torres Strait. Read about our approach to external linking. To build a world worth living in. They reflect the period in which they were created and are not the views of the National Archives. It is this issue of development that I will explore later in greater detail. 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". Love, kindness, forgiveness; always love. Eddie Mabo was a man of courage and principle who fought for the inherent rights of the Meriam people, and ultimately for the rights of all Torres Strait Islanders and Aboriginal peoples. Eddie Koiki Mabo Lecture Series. 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. British law was the law of the colony and usurped and superseded Aboriginal law. Mabo: Life of an Island Man is a 1997 Australian documentary film on the life of Indigenous Australian land rights campaigner Eddie Koiki Mabo.. In particular, Roundtable participants lamented the lack of governance skills amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander landholders to successfully engage in business development and to manage their estates. In the context of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, Governments have committed themselves to the economic development of our communities. We leave base camp and start our trek across this vast country. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen No wonder Mr Abbott was visibly moved as he thanked "Aunty Gail" for . We are still trying to find the words to equal the full measure of Eddie Mabo's devotion. And he knew truth. 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 Yolngu word meaning to come together after a struggle. 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. On 8 December 1988, the High Court ruled this legislation invalid. From 1973-1983 he established and became director of the Black Community School in Townsville. . Volume 1 (227pp), Volume 2 (58pp). Transcript of proceedings.in the High Court of Australia between Eddie Mabo, David Passi, James Rice.and the State of Queensland Proceedings for 28-31 May 1991, 3 June 1992, and 8 December 1992. A lawyer heard the speech and asked Eddie if he would like to challenge the Australian Government in the court system, to decide who the true owner of the land on Mer was, his . Mabo expressed disbelief and shock. 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. We know sadness. In-text: (Two generations talk about the impact of the 1967 Referendum and the 1992 Mabo Decision, 2019) Your Bibliography: Time Out Sydney. Without this foundation, there would be no opportunity for us to access these rights through this unique form of land tenure. Mabo and his fellow plaintiff's fought for land on Mer - their ancestral gardens and home. Eddie Mabo's dream had come true; a meeting of minds to address the issue of Aboriginal land . 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. Other cases persisted. 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. (No. The new Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, says there will be a referendum to enshrine a voice an Indigenous representative body in the Australian constitution. 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. His mother died during childbirth and he was raised by his mother's brother, Benny Mabo . First, they ask me to pass on their greetings and their thanks for allowing me on your lands. (2010 lecture transcript). These adjustments are key if we are to translate our inherent legal rights under native title into sustainable opportunities for our people. This is our land. Mabo was a Torres Strait islander from Mer (Murray Island), off Australia's north-east coast. (2012) This program was published 2 years ago. 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]. Others, while acknowledging the shortcomings of Mabo's long-term legacy, still regard it as a watershed moment in Australian political, cultural and economic life. 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. In particular, this was raised as a way that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities might be able to leverage finances in order to support economic development opportunities and to improve the capacity of our mobs to best manage these prospects in the future. Six weeks later his father died. The National Archives holds a diverse array of records relating to the Mabo case. Can I be indulgent and add a couple of others. To seek justice we had to speak the words of British law. (2014 lecture transcript), 2013 Presentation by Dr Bryan Keon-Cohen QC. "He became a driven man," says his friend and documentary maker, Trevor Graham. Eddie Koiki Sambo was born on June 29, 1936 on the Torres Strait island of Mer, also known as Murray Island. Rejected at each turn. 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". AAP. Older articles are being reviewed with a view to bringing them into line with contemporary values but the original text will remain available for historical context. Some records include terms and views that are not appropriate today. Up to April 2010, 84 native title cases had been dealt with by the courts, and 854,000 sq km (330,000 sq miles) is now covered by native title determinations. He was a Meriam man and grew up on Mer, part of the Murray Island Group in the Torres Strait. 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. I also acknowledge Meriam PBC Chair Mr Doug Passi. The Court also recognised that all Indigenous people in Australia have rights to their land. In acknowledging the traditional rights of the Meriam people to their land, the court also held that native title existed for all Indigenous people. This independence could be realized through greater roles for Indigenous landholders through business, land management and other opportunities. The issue of compensation for unfinished business was another key theme of the Roundtable. While he believed the Murray Island belonged to the Torres Strait Islander people, Australian law stated that the Government owned the land. We cannot cross the same stream twice. Eddie Mabo had challenged the very ideological establishment of Australia and the first Australians. I believe that it is this framework that has the power to elevate the aspirations that we have as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in relation to land. At 31, this affrontery became his epiphany. 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. Speech to the Native Title Conference celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Mabo High Court decision 6 June 2012. . Words. 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. (2012 lecture transcript), 2011 Presentation by Mr Mick Gooda, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner. The Mabo decision was named after Eddie Mabo, the [3] N Pearson in The Australian, Property rights will help economical development of Indigenous Australians, 22 May 2015. About 800 kilometers north of Cairns sits the small remote community of Mer (Murray) Island in the crystal blue waters of the Torres Strait. The memory of wounds. We will adapt, we will take advantage of these opportunities and we will leave a great legacy. The golden house of is of culture and connection, of blood and dreaming, of time immemorial how the golden house of is collapses. He had refused to surrender his interests, or those of his people, to the domination of others. Our people know han. To Eddie Koiki Mabo and chief justice Sir Gerard Brennan. 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. In 1959, he moved to mainland Queensland, working on pearling vessels and as a labourer. The golden house of is collapses and the world of becoming ascended.". 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. Transcript. In fact, the court went to considerable lengths to establish that the impact of its judgment will be minimal on non-Aboriginal Australians. 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. Aboriginal Australians are celebrating the 20th anniversary of their landmark victory over land rights. Eddie Mabo at James Cook University, early 1980s Series 8. "It gave us back our pride. 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. 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. 2008 Presentation by The Hon. 2017 presentation by Professor Megan Davis, Pro Vice Chancellor Indigenous, University of New South Wales. In New South Wales, the most populous state, Aboriginal people have title over only 0.1% of the land. [1] And that shift is the move to the next emerging challenge; how do we maximise these rights to their full potential, now that we have our native title recognized? For many at JCU, the landmark legal decision has been rendered personal, as well as political and historic, because of Eddie's important association with JCU staff and students, and with our surrounding communities. "I think that like many others, I was trying to deal with something that was new, that was undefined," Kennett told The Age newspaper. But he was wrong. 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. 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]. 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. You can find it still, somewhere buried in the archives of ABC News. He also co-operated with members of the Communist Party, the only white political party to support Aboriginal campaigns at the time. 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. - Behind the News Behind the News 133K subscribers Subscribe 483 106K views 3 years ago Mabo Day on June 3rd, celebrates. Ten years later, he conceded his fears were unfounded. 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. During this time he became involved in community and political organisations, such as the union movement and the 1967 Referendum campaign. When democracy is teetering and autocracy is rising. To sign treaties. And in 1981, Eddie was invited by the same university to make a speech about Mer's land inheritance system. It is a feeling. [6] UN Declaration on the Right to Development, Article 1, para 1. This led to the subsequent High Court case, Mabo v Queensland (No 2), which was to determine the matter of the plaintiffs' land rights. Family gatherings were foregone. Eddie Mabo was a Torres Strait Islander activist. On Monday, he laid a wreath on Mr Mabo's grave on Mer Island. On 3 June 1992 the High Court of Australia ruled that a group of Torres Strait Islander people, led by Eddie Mabo, owned the island of Mer (Murray Island). Keating begins by discussing the moral and legal implications of the decision. Edward Koiki Mabo ( n Sambo; 29 June 1936 - 21 January 1992) was an Indigenous Australian man from the Torres Strait Islands known for his role in campaigning for Indigenous land rights in Australia, in particular the landmark decision of the High Court of Australia that recognised that indigenous rights to land had continued after the British Some key principles underpinning this right are: This Declaration centralizes the role of both the individual and government in the development process, arguing for the State to create national policies to properly ensure the development of all individuals. Eddie Mabo was heartbroken and never forgave government authorities. A panel of judges at the High Court ruled that Aboriginal people were the rightful custodians of the land. We go on, he said, ever, ever, ever on. Eddie Koiki Mabo (c. 29 June 1936 - 21 January 1992 [1]) was an Australian man from the Torres Strait Islands known for his role in campaigning for Indigenous land rights and for his role in a landmark decision of the High Court of Australia which overturned the legal doctrine of terra nullius ("land belonging to nobody") which characterised Husband, father, grandfather, mate, advocate, achiever, Principal and mentor. And that is the cost to both men and their families. For Indigenous peoples around the world, the Declaration has been a means by which they can free themselves from the shackles of colonialism and share equitably in the benefits of development.[8]. Of invasion. In some ways our systems of governance is a defining feature of the oldest living culture on this planet. 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 expressed. This could also be translated as greater Indigenous control over our lands and resources more generally, and a decrease in the burden placed on Indigenous landholders as I have mentioned earlier today by government and other industries. But alongside . Court cases in the mid-19th century challenged the idea of British settlement at the time the rulings were in favour of the Crown. That nearly a third of our land mass is Indigenous owned is testament to this. Importantly, the Roundtable highlighted that despite previous promises around compensation for historical dispossession, this has not yet materialized. That word is emblazoned still at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy on the lawns of the Old Parliament House in Canberra. "For two centuries, the British and then white Australians operated under a fallacy, that somehow Aboriginal people did not exist or have land rights before the first settlers arrived in 1788.". The judge's four hundred page report presented Mabo and his barristers with a bombshell which threatened to sink their case. Mabo, Edward Koiki (Eddie) (1936-1992) . 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. [7] OHCHR Website, Essays in Commemoration of 25 years of the United Nations Declaration on the Right to Development. Mabo gained an education, became an activist for black rights and worked with his community to make sure Aboriginal children had their own schools. From 1973-1983 he established and became director of the Black Community School in Townsville. [10] UN Development Programme, Human Development Index, UN Human Development Report, p237. Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders in Marine Science, Agriculture Technology and Adoption Centre, Association of Australian University Secretaries, Australian Quantum & Classical Transport Physics Group, Centre for Tropical Bioinformatics and Molecular Biology, Division of Tropical Environments and Societies, Foundation for Australian Literary Studies, IERC Administration and Centre Operations, Torres Strait Islander Research to Policy & Practice Hub, Meriba buay ngalpan wakaythoemamay (We come together to share our thinking), Knowledge Integration for Torres Strait Sustainability: Sey boey wara goeygil nabi yangukudupa, Office of the Vice Chancellor and President, Queensland Research Centre for Peripheral Vascular Disease, Contextual Science for Tropical Coastal Ecosystems, Australian Institute of Tropical Health & Medicine, Recognition, national identity and our future. Born in 1936, he grew up in the village of Las on the north bend of Mer Island. 2. Financing economic development within the Indigenous estate. the belief that Australia and its islands belonged to no-one when claimed by the British in 1770) in a landmark court . Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are advised that this site may contain names, images or voices of people who have passed away. Document: 00003849.pdf 1 Page(s) Speech at the Gurindji Land Ceremony. And he knew truth. 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. Transcript ID: 3849. Han is Korean and it is more than a word. This activity encourages children to write down their knowledge in a structured report . 2004 Presentation by Fr Frank Brennan SJ AO. [1] J Altman., (2014) Scullion Peddles pipedream reforms, Journal of Indigenous Policy, At: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/JlIndigP/2014/33.pdf (viewed 5 June 2015). Eddie Koiki Mabo: A Meriam man, husband to Bonita Mabo and father to 10 children. 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. 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 . Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that this resource and resource page may contain the image, name or voice of deceased persons. But we know that these scales do not capture the social disadvantage experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. 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]. 1h 43m. Yindyamarra is respect: It is quiet, it is humble. He would later describe his time on the island as 'the best time of my life'1. 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. 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 . In my tribute to Rob, I mentioned how losing that fight for national land rights lit the fires for what was to become the fight for native title led by Eddie, with Rob being part of the leadership that negotiated the Native Title Act through the national parliament to give legislative effect to the High Court decision championed by Eddie. That permission was denied. According to his daughter Gail Mabo, it 'fuelled his determination for recognition and equality in society'. [9] UN Development Programme, Human Development Index, UN Human Development Report. With support from legal experts, Mabo, along with fellow plaintiffs and Murray Islanders Reverend David Passi, Celuia Mapoo Salee, Sam Passi and James Rice, brought a case against the Queensland Government in the High Court. 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. He is best known for the two court cases that bear his name, Mabo v. Queensland (numbers 1 and 2). We need to work alongside government to equip ourselves with the knowledge and skills to turn the economic and commercial aspirations into reality. We pay our respects to the people, their cultures and Elders past, present and emerging. How might this case shatter the myth of terra nullius? The Mabo Case Eddie Mabo is widely known for his plight to regain land rights for both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. A decade later, I was a young reporter still in my early 20s, finding my way into the foreign world of journalism when I saw a listing for a case at the High Court. 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." At: http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/table-1-human-development-index-and-its-components#a (viewed 9 June 2015). Ten years before, Eddie Koiki Mabo and his comrades started the legal battle for the recognition of the Meriam people and the ownership of Mer Island. [11]Native Title Act 1993 (Cth), preamble. On 21 May 2008, James Cook University named its Townsville campus library the Eddie Koiki Mabo Library. As this brave mans voice even as he had passed was heard by another man who is now gone and together they changed us. These are the traditional lands and waters of the Meriam people, and the final resting place of Eddie Mabo in Las Village. The court dismissed his challenge to Australian sovereignty, but in his opinion Justice Lionel Murphy rattled the bones of the Australian settlement. " A case was made, and took 10 years to reach a decision. Few Australians then knew the name Eddie Mabo. Yet, the first colonialists decided, for commercial reasons, to ignore all that and peddle the view that Aboriginal people were primitive, disorganised, culture-less creatures who deserved no rights over land. You and I know all too well that we live shorter, poorer lives than our non-Aboriginal counterparts. I must say though, that beyond economic development, effective governance is critical to ensuring that our organisations are transparent and accountable to our communities and this is one challenge to which we must rise. 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.
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