But he was wrong. Until Mabo, we had been a forgotten people, even though we knew that we were in the right.". By continuing to use this site, you are giving us consent to do this. Eddie Mabo wanted to change the law of Terra Nullius and claim the Aboriginal people as the original owners of the land this would change social and political views of the aboriginal people. As a nation, this is an improvement from fourth position just over ten years ago in 2003.[10]. 3. Business development support and succession planning. 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. Well, Australia now stands at a moment of history. [3] N Pearson in The Australian, Property rights will help economical development of Indigenous Australians, 22 May 2015. I also acknowledge Meriam PBC Chair Mr Doug Passi. 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. 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. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work. 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. In 1992 the High Court handed down its historic ruling. 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. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are advised that this site may contain names, images or voices of people who have passed away. Love, suffering, hope, justice and truth Eddie Mabo knew about love too. Australia owes you a great debt. Without this foundation, there would be no opportunity for us to access these rights through this unique form of land tenure. In his book Why Weren't We Told?, Reynolds describes the talks they had regarding Mabo's people's rights to their lands, on Murray Island, in the Torres Strait. Mabo 20 years on: did it change the nation? 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. 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. He's recorded as saying: "No way, it's not theirs, it's ours." 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. Despite the fact that the challenge of gaining native title is still a fight that many of us share, there has been a shift in focus now and we have started to see a gradual change in terms of ownership. The golden house of is collapses and the world of becoming ascended.". Husband, father, grandfather, mate, advocate, achiever, Principal and mentor. The man who had engineered the historic change of law, never lived to witness it himself. 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. Rejected at each turn. Yindyamarra is respect: It is quiet, it is humble. 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 . Gail Mabo and Prime Minister Tony Abbott during their visit to the grave of Eddie Mabo on Mer Island. 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. 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. We cross rivers and we are changed like the water itself. [10] UN Development Programme, Human Development Index, UN Human Development Report, p237. Eddie Mabo would not live to see his final victory, but in that judgement he became immortal. At the 1981 James Cook University Land Rights Conference Eddie Mabo made a passionate speech about land ownership and ancestral inheritance in the Murray Islands. It commemoratesEdward (Eddie) Koiki Mabo (1936-1992), a Torres Strait Islander whose campaign for Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land rights led to a landmark decision in the High Court of Australia on 3rd June 1992 that overturned the legal fiction of terra nullius, which had characterised Australian law with respect to land and title since the voyage of Captain James Cook in 1770. He immediately saw the injustice of it and from then on dedicated his life to reversing it. These legal challenges continued into the 20th century rulings maintained the legitimacy of the Crown but could not extinguish completely the Aboriginal claims. We all know about the legacy of native title left by Meriam and Murray Islanders Edward Koiki Mabo, David Passi and James Rice. He knew about suffering. 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. His mother passed away shortly after his birth and he was adopted by his maternal Uncle and Aunt, Benny and Maiga Mabo in line with Islander . And he knew truth. 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". 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. It clearly did not, for instance, lead to vast numbers of white Australians being forced from their homes, businesses, mines or farms. There was something of destiny in the air. In 1974, he became involved in a discussion with two academics. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen No wonder Mr Abbott was visibly moved as he thanked "Aunty Gail" for . Mabo was a Torres Strait islander from Mer (Murray Island), off Australia's north-east coast. As this brave mans voice even as he had passed was heard by another man who is now gone and together they changed us. He was another victim of Terra Nullius, like so many of his fellow indigenous people had been before him. the belief that Australia and its islands belonged to no-one when claimed by the British in 1770) in a landmark court . [1] It was brought by Eddie Mabo against the State of Queensland and decided on 3 June 1992. This is yet another reason why a development approach is so urgently needed. Another similarity is something that sometimes we do not acknowledge enough. I was no lawyerbut I knew I sensed this was different. 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". He knew about suffering. 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 . Read about our approach to external linking. The "fallacy" that Perkins speaks of is the concept of Terra Nullius, land belonging to no-one. 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. 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. It goes on to mention the yet unfulfilled nature of redress through a social justice package that I alluded to earlier: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have been progressively dispossessed of their lands. Importantly, development is also a process through which other human rights can be realized and our wellbeing alongside all other populations is maximised. That nearly a third of our land mass is Indigenous owned is testament to this. 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. But that's just 11% of Australia's land mass. Vincent Lingiari and men and women of the Gurindji people. 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. Whilst the case did little to clarify the legal principles around calculating compensation, it is one example of the positive realization after many years, of the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to land and waters within the native title system. What did Eddie Mabo say in his speech? 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 . One of the people who attended the conference, a lawyer, suggested they should make a case to claim land rights through the court system. 2. Financing economic development within the Indigenous estate. 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. 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. Reynolds struck up a friendship with Eddie Mabo, who was then a groundsman and gardener at James Cook University. The decision. (No. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. 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. 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. But we know that these scales do not capture the social disadvantage experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We leave base camp and start our trek across this vast country. Eddie Mabo was a great hero to the Australian people. 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. 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. This was not empty land. 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]. (2012 lecture transcript), 2011 Presentation by Mr Mick Gooda, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner. Judged by any civilised standard, such a law is unjust ". [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). 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 . Few Australians then knew the name Eddie Mabo. How might this case shatter the myth of terra nullius? Six weeks later his father died. The Mabo Case Eddie Mabo is widely known for his plight to regain land rights for both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. 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. 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. And that is the cost to both men and their families. But the . 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. Mabo made a speech to the audience where he explained the indigenous customary land inheritance system on Murray Island. We invite you to walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future.. To strengthen our democracy as Eddie Mabo strengthened our law. 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. I also acknowledge the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Nigel Scullion who is here today and my colleague Tim Wilson, our Australian Human Rights Commissioner. 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 commitment to a land fund; and importantly, participation in decision-making underpinned by the concept of free, prior and informed consent and good faith. That word is emblazoned still at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy on the lawns of the Old Parliament House in Canberra. Some records include terms and views that are not appropriate today. He also co-operated with members of the Communist Party, the only white political party to support Aboriginal campaigns at the time. And in 1981, Eddie was invited by the same university to make a speech about Mer's land inheritance system. Yindyamarra winanghanha. As Kevin Mason divedin the ocean, a compliance officer waswatching on the cliffs above. 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. A panel of judges at the High Court ruled that Aboriginal people were the rightful custodians of the land. These often hamper the development and economic aspirations of the communities involved right from the start. He knew about hope and he knew about justice. Eternal. 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. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that this resource and resource page may contain the image, name or voice of deceased persons. Mabo Day occurs annually in Australia on 3rd June. 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. It is short for Mabo and others v Queensland (No 2) (1992). Document: 00003849.pdf 1 Page(s) Speech at the Gurindji Land Ceremony. 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]. Birthdays, anniversaries, sports events and special schools days were missed. Eddie Koiki Mabo: A Meriam man, husband to Bonita Mabo and father to 10 children. 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. British law was the law of the colony and usurped and superseded Aboriginal law. 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. Suggested answer: While working as a grounds keeper at James Cook University in Townsville, Eddie learnt about Australian land ownership laws. He knew about hope and he knew about justice. . We need to work alongside government to equip ourselves with the knowledge and skills to turn the economic and commercial aspirations into reality. It is lament. They both endured early hard lives that steeled them for the struggles that would eventually come their way. Friendship with Eddie Mabo. Watch. The memory of wounds. And he was right. 5. Jenny Macklin MP, Minister for Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. 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. The fall of the golden house of is but not the end. They claimed that Murray Island (Mer) and surrounding islands and reefs had been continuously inhabited and exclusively possessed by the Meriam people . 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 ! 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.