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. Transcript ID: 3849. The most important revelation arising from Eddie Mabo's claim and the High Court's decision was that an ancient title connected to the traditional occupation of the land by Aboriginal and Islander people had survived the . He would later describe his time on the island as 'the best time of my life'1. He's recorded as saying: "No way, it's not theirs, it's ours." 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. 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. These barriers all prevent us from using our land to enter into the economy from which we can see ourselves and our communities thrive. [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? JCU websites use cookies to enhance user experience, analyse site usage, and assist with outreach and enrolment. There was scepticism, even cynicism, but I was able to report the story. He was right. Mabo: Life of an Island Man is a 1997 Australian documentary film on the life of Indigenous Australian land rights campaigner Eddie Koiki Mabo.. 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]. Judged by any civilised standard, such a law is unjust ". 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." I like how the words create a rhythm. Well, Australia now stands at a moment of history. 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. Later in 1992, Mabo was posthumously awarded the Australian Human Rights Medal. 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. That's why the legal decision is universally known as "Mabo". The golden house of is collapses and the world of becoming ascended.". . 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. Milosz wrote into the horror of the 20th century as he saw war all around him. JCU celebrates the history-making Mabo decision with the long establishedEddie Koiki Mabo Lecture Series, an annual public commemorative presentation by a prominent person who has made a significant contribution to contemporary Australian society. : he world to possession and I emfphasise Opossessions This led to the subsequent High Court case, Mabo v Queensland (No 2), which was to determine the matter of the plaintiffs' land rights. We will adapt, we will take advantage of these opportunities and we will leave a great legacy. 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. It's the anniversary of a court decision that recognized for . But it was a bittersweet moment for the indigenous population. At: http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/table-1-human-development-index-and-its-components#a (viewed 9 June 2015). At: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/ALRCRefJl/2009/15.html#FootnoteB6 (viewed 9 June 2015). 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. (2014 lecture transcript), 2013 Presentation by Dr Bryan Keon-Cohen QC. It does not create any new rights, but rather reaffirms the rights that exist in many other international treaties and conventions. This link is the basis of the ownership of the soil, or better, of sovereignty., "This is the torment of our powerlessness.". Ten years later, he conceded his fears were unfounded. There was something of destiny in the air. 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. 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. British law under a British flag. The Mabo decision What is the Mabo decision? To build a world worth living in. I was no lawyerbut I knew I sensed this was different. "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.". Eddie Mabo was a great hero to the Australian people. There will be many words between now and then. Legacy of Eddie Mabo. We invite you to walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future.. Mr Mabo died in 1992 just months before his 10-year legal battle for native title rights proved successful. Mabo expressed disbelief and shock. I like words. In 1959, he moved to mainland Queensland, working on pearling vessels and as a labourer. "Quite simply, Eddie Mabo brought an end to a two-centuries-old lie," says Rachel Perkins, director and inspiration behind the new movie, Mabo, released to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the historic High Court case. Justice John Willis said: "In Australia it is the colonists not the Aborigines are the foreigners.". In 1959, he moved to mainland Queensland, working on pearling vessels and as a labourer. 5. The Mabo decision was named after Eddie Mabo, the On 8 December 1988, the High Court ruled this legislation invalid. Participants identified that we need to start considering the role of the financial services industry, as well as agencies such as Indigenous Business Australia and the Indigenous Land Corporation in the context of our economic development. Volume 3 (146pp). SPEECH - THURSDAY, 3 JUNE . "If ever a system could be called a government of laws," he said, "it is shown in the evidence before me.". Importantly, the Roundtable highlighted that despite previous promises around compensation for historical dispossession, this has not yet materialized. Mabo 20 years on: did it change the nation? 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. Mabo and his fellow plaintiff's fought for land on Mer - their ancestral gardens and home. Document: 00003849.pdf 1 Page(s) Speech at the Gurindji Land Ceremony. Today in the midst of winter there is still smoke from a campfire, framing a word spelled out on the lawn: Sovereignty. 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]. Eddie Koiki Mabo died of cancer on 21 January 1991, before the case was resolved. Mabo made a speech to the audience where he explained the indigenous customary land inheritance system on Murray Island. The victory was largely down to one indigenous man called Eddie Mabo. 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. In 1974, he became involved in a discussion with two academics. 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. To strengthen our democracy as Eddie Mabo strengthened our law. 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". Unfortunately, the right to development is not a concept often thought about in relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as members of a developed country. It is lament. 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. We need to work alongside government to equip ourselves with the knowledge and skills to turn the economic and commercial aspirations into reality. The truth: This was his land. That word is emblazoned still at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy on the lawns of the Old Parliament House in Canberra. The judge's four hundred page report presented Mabo and his barristers with a bombshell which threatened to sink their case. 2004 Presentation by Fr Frank Brennan SJ AO. In fact, the court went to considerable lengths to establish that the impact of its judgment will be minimal on non-Aboriginal Australians. But that's just 11% of Australia's land mass. He immediately saw the injustice of it and from then on dedicated his life to reversing it. However, in the lead-up to these hearings, the Parliament of Queensland passed the Queensland Coast Islands Declaratory Act 1985, which asserted that, upon being annexed by the Queensland Government in 1879, 'the islands were vested in the Crown freed from all other rights, interests and claims'. 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 justices spoke of a legacy of "unutterable shame"and that the dispossession of Indigenous people was the darkest aspect of Australia's history. What's the least amount of exercise we can get away with? [1] Cast [ edit] Jimi Bani as Eddie Mabo Gedor Zaro as Young Eddie Deborah Mailman as Bonita Mabo (ne Neehow) When democracy is teetering and autocracy is rising. It is a feeling. Court cases in the mid-19th century challenged the idea of British settlement at the time the rulings were in favour of the Crown. 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". 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. 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. Eddie Mabo knew about love too. Few Australians then knew the name Eddie Mabo. For significant service to the community as a cultural leader and public sector executive in the field of Indigenous affairs.. Eddie Mabo was heartbroken and never forgave government authorities. We pay our respects to the people, their cultures and Elders past, present and emerging. 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. 2008 Presentation by The Hon. 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? Together yindyamarra winanghanha means to live with respect in a world worth living in. They can raise us to anger then soothe us. We did not end. 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. He was another victim of Terra Nullius, like so many of his fellow indigenous people had been before him. How might this case shatter the myth of terra nullius? Make an Impact. The memory of wounds. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. [9] UN Development Programme, Human Development Index, UN Human Development Report. 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. Tenacity, fearlessness, fearsome, tireless are some of the words that come to mind when the names Rob Riley and Eddie Mabo are mentioned. 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). I had read about the case as it moved through the lower courts. Audio file Transcript About this record This is the soundtrack of an address to the nation on 15 November 1993 by the then Prime Minister Paul Keating, explaining the Australian Government's response to the High Court's Mabo decision. 2019. But that hasn't stopped indigenous people, like Queensland elder Douglas Bon, taking great satisfaction in the ruling. At: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Development/Pages/RealizingaVisionforTransformativeDevelopment.aspx (viewed 9 June 2015), [8] N Collings, Native title, economic development and the environment, Australian Law Reform Commission Journal 15, 2009. 10. 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. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice, Copyright Australian Human Rights Commission, http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/JlIndigP/2014/33.pdf, http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/property-rights-will-help-economic-development-of-indigenous-australians/story-e6frg6z6-1227365821530, https://www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/document/publication/social_justice_native_title_report_2013.pdf, http://www.humanrights.gov.au/publications/native-title-report-2008, http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Development/Pages/RealizingaVisionforTransformativeDevelopment.aspx, http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/ALRCRefJl/2009/15.html#FootnoteB6, http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/table-1-human-development-index-and-its-components#a, http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/reports/264/hdr_2003_en_complete.pdf. Eddie Mabo was a staff member at JCU, working as a groundsman from 1967 to 1971. Others, mainly white opponents, regarded the judgement as a mistake. Eddie Koiki Sambo was born on June 29, 1936 on the Torres Strait island of Mer, also known as Murray Island. His mother died during childbirth and he was raised by his mother's brother, Benny Mabo . We cross rivers and we are changed like the water itself. In 1994 the Torres Strait Regional Authority (TSRA) was established in response to Read More These often hamper the development and economic aspirations of the communities involved right from the start. . Choose from the list of topics on the left and then choose 'Click to Play'. The decision. Other cases persisted. Nor did the judges intend that it should. A human rights based approach has been a key part of advocacy of all Social Justice Commissioners. 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. 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.". 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]. Edward Koiki Mabo was born on 29 June 1936. 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. [1] It was brought by Eddie Mabo against the State of Queensland and decided on 3 June 1992. 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]. Eddie Mabo had challenged the very ideological establishment of Australia and the first Australians. In May 1982, Eddie Mabo and four other Meriam people of the Murray Islands in the Torres Strait began action in the High Court of Australia seeking confirmation of their traditional land rights. 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 are still trying to find the words to equal the full measure of Eddie Mabo's devotion. That permission was denied. The court dismissed his challenge to Australian sovereignty, but in his opinion Justice Lionel Murphy rattled the bones of the Australian settlement. " That is the view most widely endorsed by history. (2013 lecture transcript), 2012 Presentation by Professor Henry Reynolds. The National Archives holds a diverse array of records relating to the Mabo case. Hide message. 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. 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. 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. 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. Read about our approach to external linking. 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." Across language itself. Our News It is clear that the current system has not delivered what had initially been intended to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. "He became a driven man," says his friend and documentary maker, Trevor Graham. 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. Eddie's daughter, Gail Mabo remembers that day well. The theme of this years conference is Leadership, Legacy and Opportunity. 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. [10] UN Development Programme, Human Development Index, UN Human Development Report, p237. 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). 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. In New South Wales, the most populous state, Aboriginal people have title over only 0.1% of the land. the belief that Australia and its islands belonged to no-one when claimed by the British in 1770) in a landmark court . [6] UN Declaration on the Right to Development, Article 1, para 1. So today it is indeed an honour for both my people and myself to be presenting this year's Edward Koiki Mabo Lecture. 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. And he was right. On 3 June 1992, six of the seven High Court judges upheld the claim and ruled that the lands of . In a snapshot. 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]. When our world is ablaze with conflict. Indigenous Education and Research Centre 2023 BBC. . Can I be indulgent and add a couple of others. 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. Mabo ended up on the mainland working a number of jobs, including labouring on the railways. 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. 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. 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. A panel of judges at the High Court ruled that Aboriginal people were the rightful custodians of the land. To seek justice we had to speak the words of British law. A lawyer heard the speech and asked . Eddie Koiki Mabo: A Meriam man, husband to Bonita Mabo and father to 10 children. 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. The words are carefully chosen to sit alongside each other withjust the right length and the right tone, each one setting up the other and chosen for both meaning and music. Words makaratta. 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. In 1973 Mabo founded the Black Community School in Townsville, which was created to educate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and preserve traditional knowledge and practices. This activity encourages children to write down their knowledge in a structured report . In one, the presiding judge said the mere introduction of British law did not extinguish Aboriginal customary law. 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. 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. But alongside . Australia owes you a great debt. As this brave mans voice even as he had passed was heard by another man who is now gone and together they changed us. 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. As much as Australias law tried to tell him he was wrong, he knew his law and he knew that even the law of Britain that had stolen this land had to admit finally admit what we all knew, what Eddie Mabo knew. Importantly, development is also a process through which other human rights can be realized and our wellbeing alongside all other populations is maximised. Love, kindness, forgiveness; always love. Eddie Mabo (left) and . However, whilst the right to development is about improvements in economic and material outcomes, it is also about our rights as Indigenous peoples to self-determination and our rights to control our natural wealth and resources. 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 . 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 ! 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. But without warriors such as Eddie, David and James, Rob and countless others, we would not be in the position regarding Indigenous land tenure that we are in today. 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. - Behind the News Behind the News 133K subscribers Subscribe 483 106K views 3 years ago Mabo Day on June 3rd, celebrates. Transcript notes - MABO, Eddie, RICE, James v State of Queensland and Commonwealth of Australia, ITM1641344 In 1982, along with four other Meriam people from Murray Island, he initiated legal proceedings in the Queensland Supreme Court claiming customary ownership of their lands on Murray Island. 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. 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. The fall of the golden house of is but not the end. What is this Eddie Mabo Biography Worksheet? Mabo died five months earlier from cancer in January 1992, at the age of 55. In 1992 the High Court handed down its historic ruling. Two generations talk about the impact of the 1967 Referendum and the 1992 Mabo Decision . Australian law for two centuries hid the truth behind words.