Watch all your favourite ABC programs on ABC iview. 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. The victory was largely down to one indigenous man called Eddie Mabo. It would most likely still be in place had it not been for Eddie Koiki Mabo. "He became a driven man," says his friend and documentary maker, Trevor Graham. It is sadness beyond the word sadness itself. 2008 Presentation by The Hon. In August 1981 Mabo attended a conference on land rights at James Cook University. They ruled that the Mabo decision in no way challenges the legality of non-Aboriginal land tenure. It is a feeling. . (2010 lecture transcript). Born in 1936, Mabo started life like so many other indigenous people, deprived of a meaningful education, denied access to whites-only buses, cinemas, even toilets. 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 . 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. The preamble to the Native Title Act makes it clear that the objectives of the legislation are to: rectify the consequences of past injustices by the special measures contained in the Act to ensure that Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders receive the full recognition and status within the Australian nation to which history, their prior rights and interests, and their rich and diverse culture, fully entitle them to aspire.[11]. In the Shire of . The truth: This was his land. Searching for 'Mabo' in RecordSearch brings up many results, including the files below. 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.". He also co-operated with members of the Communist Party, the only white political party to support Aboriginal campaigns at the time. [10] UN Development Programme, Human Development Index, UN Human Development Report, p237. Ten years later, he conceded his fears were unfounded. Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? The second key theme that was raised at the roundtable was the issue of financing economic development within the Indigenous estate. "If ever a system could be called a government of laws," he said, "it is shown in the evidence before me.". . His mother passed away shortly after his birth and he was adopted by his Uncle Benny and Aunty Maigo Mabo in line with Islander custom. OM95-26 Mabo Cutting Books 1990-1994 - (2 vols.) 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. The court dismissed his challenge to Australian sovereignty, but in his opinion Justice Lionel Murphy rattled the bones of the Australian settlement. " 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. So today it is indeed an honour for both my people and myself to be presenting this year's Edward Koiki Mabo Lecture. 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]. And he knew truth. That permission was denied. 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. 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. "The golden house of is collapses. Importantly, the Roundtable highlighted that despite previous promises around compensation for historical dispossession, this has not yet materialized. This landmark decision led to the Australian Government introducing native title . We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work. B12 of 1982 in the High Court of Australia). . 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. 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. You and I know all too well that we live shorter, poorer lives than our non-Aboriginal counterparts. People gathered this week in Townsville, Queensland, to remember a seminal moment in the nation's history, and the efforts of one man to bring it about. Watch. 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". Overwhelmingly, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have indicated that it is time for a new process of engagement to occur with the government on the topic of our rights after native title. 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." I also acknowledge Meriam PBC Chair Mr Doug Passi. 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. It was on 3 June 1992 that the Australian High Court overturned more than 200 years of white domination of land ownership. The Mabo decision was a legal case held in 1992. 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. Topics are usually less than 2 minutes long. Together yindyamarra winanghanha means to live with respect in a world worth living in. A while back I read a business management book by an American, Leon C. Megginson. 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." Eternal. For significant service to the community as a cultural leader and public sector executive in the field of Indigenous affairs.. Transcript notes - MABO, Eddie, RICE, James v State of Queensland and Commonwealth of Australia, ITM1641344 At 31, this affrontery became his epiphany. 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. It is lament. But the . "Koiki was ambitious for himself and for his people." 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. 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 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. 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. 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. In 1974, he became involved in a discussion with two academics. It is this issue of development that I will explore later in greater detail. 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. My people are the Gangulu from the Dawson Valley in Central Queensland. A panel of judges at the High Court ruled that Aboriginal people were the rightful custodians of the land. To make agreements. 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]. And these were the costs borne by the whole family. In acknowledging the traditional rights of the Meriam people to their land, the court also held that native title existed for all Indigenous people. According to his daughter Gail Mabo, it 'fuelled his determination for recognition and equality in society'. The Mabo verdict was arguably the most significant court ruling in the history of Indigenous Australia, overturning the concept of terra nullius and paving the way for native title. Other cases persisted. 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. 2023 BBC. At: http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/table-1-human-development-index-and-its-components#a (viewed 9 June 2015). Tenacity, fearlessness, fearsome, tireless are some of the words that come to mind when the names Rob Riley and Eddie Mabo are mentioned. Transcript. Later in 1992, Mabo was posthumously awarded the Australian Human Rights Medal. 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. 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. 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. My predecessor Dr Tom Calma explained the impact of never implementing a social justice package in 2008: this abyss is one of the underlying reasons why the native title system is under the strain it is under today[5]. This sovereignty is a spiritual notion: the ancestral tie between the land, or "mother nature", and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who were born therefrom, remain attached thereto, and must one day return thither to be united with our ancestors. Text 1936 3. Business development support and succession planning. [11]Native Title Act 1993 (Cth), preamble. Yindyamarra winanghanha. 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. Jenny Macklin MP, Minister for Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. Land claim, 1981-1992 In 1981, at a conference on indigenous land rights in Townsville, a decision was made to pursue a native land title claim for the people of the Murray Islands in the High Court of Australia.