The lack of planning and support for native titleholders to economically develop their land was identified as one of the major failings of the native title system. When democracy is teetering and autocracy is rising. Transcript ID: 3849. To build a world worth living in. Eddie Mabo was a staff member at JCU, working as a groundsman from 1967 to 1971. 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. 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? Topics are usually less than 2 minutes long. A culture and a people facing devastation. 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. These are the traditional lands and waters of the Meriam people, and the final resting place of Eddie Mabo in Las Village. On 3 June 1992, the High Court of Australia ruled in favour of limited native title. Eddie Mabo and Gerard Brennan overturned the terra nullius policy and changed Australia forever. The court dismissed his challenge to Australian sovereignty, but in his opinion Justice Lionel Murphy rattled the bones of the Australian settlement. " However, it also raised equally relevant issues around the many state and local government land taxes and rates that apply once conversion has taken place. This Declaration on the Right to Development was adopted by the General Assembly in 1986. He knew about suffering. Unlike them, however, Mabo wasn't going to accept it. Eddie Mabo: It was written in the stars | NITV Australian law for two centuries hid the truth behind words. 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]. The Mabo case Records relating to the Mabo case About Eddie Mabo Edward Koiki Mabo was born on 29 June 1936. Eddie Mabo Speech Essay - studyscroll.com During this time he enrolled as a student and studied teaching at the College of Advanced Education, which later amalgamated with JCU. For the love of his family and tradition, he fights for his land on Murray Island. 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]. 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 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. Eddie Koiki Mabo was an advocate of the 1967 Referendum, fighting for equal rights including education. 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 2004 Presentation by Fr Frank Brennan SJ AO. Eternal. Drama Biopic Inspiring. 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. Mabo and others: products or agents of progress? 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. The National Archives holds a diverse array of records relating to the Mabo case. Here we are 30 years later, still on that journey. 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. PDF 3 June: a significant date - Reconciliation AustraliaMabo footage released for the first time - Jun 2020 - JCU Australia In 1959, he moved to mainland Queensland, working on pearling vessels and as a labourer. A lawyer heard the speech and asked . British law was the law of the colony and usurped and superseded Aboriginal law. The Castle: Cheat Sheet | Movie News | SBS Movies 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. From 1973-1983 he established and became director of the Black Community School in Townsville. Mabo expressed disbelief and shock. (2014 lecture transcript), 2013 Presentation by Dr Bryan Keon-Cohen QC. The truth: This was his land. They claimed that Murray Island (Mer) and surrounding islands and reefs had been continuously inhabited and exclusively possessed by the Meriam people . I also acknowledge Meriam PBC Chair Mr Doug Passi. 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. At: http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/table-1-human-development-index-and-its-components#a (viewed 9 June 2015). 2. Financing economic development within the Indigenous estate. 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. [9] UN Development Programme, Human Development Index, UN Human Development Report. 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. 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. Suggested answer: While working as a grounds keeper at James Cook University in Townsville, Eddie learnt about Australian land ownership laws. And in some cases native title had become a millstone, almost drowning people in a sea of regulation, red tape and process without any semblance of necessary support. 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". The memory of wounds. Mabo's credibility as the primary witness for the case was savaged . "If Koiki Mabo were alive today he would be an angry man," says Malezer. (No. His mother died during childbirth and he was raised by his mother's brother, Benny Mabo . 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. 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. Insight into the significance of Mabo Day for Aboriginal and Torres Edward Koiki Mabo was born on 29 June 1936. This needs to change. Mabo Day & Native Title: Who was Eddie Mabo & what is his legacy However the Federal Court found that the South Australian government were liable for an undisclosed amount to the Nguraritja people for parcels of land over which, but for the prior extinguishing acts of government, they would have held native title. Eddie Mabo's heritage and culture were major influencers in his rise to prominence. We are currently not sharing in the developmental prosperity for which Australia is known. Eddie Koiki Mabo died of cancer on 21 January 1991, before the case was resolved. Some went further, fuelling the hysteria with unsubstantiated claims - Jeff Kennett, then the premier of Victoria, said suburban backyards could be at risk of takeover by Aboriginal people. Speech to the Native Title Conference celebrating the 20th - DSS The issue of compensation for unfinished business was another key theme of the Roundtable. Alex Murdaugh jailed for life for double murder, Why the disgraced lawyer was spared death penalty, Saving Private Ryan actor Tom Sizemore dies at 61, The children left behind in Cuba's mass exodus, Xi Jinping's power grab - and why it matters, Snow, Fire and Lights: Photos of the Week. "From self-respect comes dignity, and from dignity comes hope": Meeting active, free and meaningful participation in development; self-determination and full sovereignty over natural wealth and resources. The new Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, says there will be a referendum to enshrine a voice an Indigenous representative body in the Australian constitution. Eddie Mabo knew about love too. This activity encourages children to write down their knowledge in a structured report . Can I be indulgent and add a couple of others. At 31, this affrontery became his epiphany. (2012 lecture transcript), 2011 Presentation by Mr Mick Gooda, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner. What Exactly Is 'Mabo Day' And Why Is June 3 Such An - ELLE 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. It is short for Mabo and others v Queensland (No 2) (1992). 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.". Uncle Eddie 'Koiki' Mabo. And he was right. Eddie Mabo would not live to see his final victory, but in that judgement he became immortal. Love, kindness, forgiveness; always love. This is yet another reason why a development approach is so urgently needed. 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. 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. Realising these aspirations, is key to our economic development and prosperity as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples where our land is our ultimate asset. Mabo : ABC iview 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. Words like han. 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. Words. 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. It was on 3 June 1992 that the Australian High Court overturned more than 200 years of white domination of land ownership. This was our land. That's why the legal decision is universally known as "Mabo". It is clear that we have seen a change in momentum as far as this space is concerned. There was something of destiny in the air. Mabo gained an education, became an activist for black rights and worked with his community to make sure Aboriginal children had their own schools. A panel of judges at the High Court ruled that Aboriginal people were the rightful custodians of the land. Mabo Day & Native Title: Who was Eddie Mabo & what is his legacy? I honour your Elders that have come before you, those that are here today and I wait in optimistic anticipation for those Elders who are yet to emerge. "Koiki was ambitious for himself and for his people.". 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. 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. 1h 43m. He was another victim of Terra Nullius, like so many of his fellow indigenous people had been before him. Only land such as vacant crown land, national parks and some leased land, can be subject to claims by the Aboriginal owners. Reynolds struck up a friendship with Eddie Mabo, who was then a groundsman and gardener at James Cook University. 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. The significance of Mabo Day - ABC Education Hide message. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work. 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. In that book he argued, contrary to theories of Charles Darwin, that it was not the fittest or the strongest nor the smartest that survive but those who can manage change, that is it is the most adaptable who survive. We cross rivers and we are changed like the water itself. Celebrating Mabo's courage - Jan 2015 - JCU Australia We invite you to walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future.. During this time he enrolled as a student and studied teaching at the College of Advanced Education, which later amalgamated with JCU. He knew about hope and he knew about justice. Mabo: Life of an Island Man is a 1997 Australian documentary film on the life of Indigenous Australian land rights campaigner Eddie Koiki Mabo.. Birthdays, anniversaries, sports events and special schools days were missed. 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. 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. Mabo Collection | National Library of Australia 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. Mabo/Mer AAP. That word is emblazoned still at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy on the lawns of the Old Parliament House in Canberra. It was also a flagrant disregard of Britain's own existing laws, which stated that the Aboriginal people did have title rights over their own land. British law under a British flag. Another similarity is something that sometimes we do not acknowledge enough. Judged by any civilised standard, such a law is unjust ". Barrister Ron Castan, Eddie Mabo and barrister Bryan Keon-Cohen at . 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 . 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. Eddie Mabo - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 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. This was not empty land. Document: 00003849.pdf 1 Page(s) Speech at the Gurindji Land Ceremony. 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. He is hardworking and determined, but at the cost of his family life. 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. In fact, the court went to considerable lengths to establish that the impact of its judgment will be minimal on non-Aboriginal Australians. And he knew truth. Six facts you need to know about Mabo Day - Life Without Barriers 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. 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. Eddie Koiki Mabo: A Meriam man, husband to Bonita Mabo and father to 10 children. In one, the presiding judge said the mere introduction of British law did not extinguish Aboriginal customary law. JCU websites use cookies to enhance user experience, analyse site usage, and assist with outreach and enrolment. 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 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]. 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. 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. Eddie Mabo was a staff member at JCU, working as a groundsman from 1967 to 1971. Words speak across tongues. 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. He also co-operated with members of the Communist Party, the only white political party to support Aboriginal campaigns at the time. That is the view most widely endorsed by history. The ongoing legacy of the Mabo decision - The Sydney Morning Herald Governance has always been at the core of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and our community life. On Monday, he laid a wreath on Mr Mabo's grave on Mer Island. Finally, the remaining key theme of the meeting was the issue of our right as Indigenous peoples to development. Mabo v Queensland (No 2) - Wikipedia Friendship with Eddie Mabo. [7] OHCHR Website, Essays in Commemoration of 25 years of the United Nations Declaration on the Right to Development. 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. 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. 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. 2006 Presentation by Professor Larissa Behrendt. 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. 2023 BBC. The former president of Western Australia's Liberal Party, Bill Hassel, said the ruling was greeted with "outrage". 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. 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. In-text: (Two generations talk about the impact of the 1967 Referendum and the 1992 Mabo Decision, 2019) Your Bibliography: Time Out Sydney. Participants in Broome identified there was a real need to have a new conversation with Government around Indigenous land and property rights and how this might translate into sustainable economic development. Eddie Mabo Land Rights - 422 Words | Cram 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. Mabo made a speech to the audience where he explained the indigenous customary land inheritance system on Murray Island. For 50 years this embassy has stood as a reminder that we are still here. 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. I am sure that these issues will resonate with many of you here today. 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 . 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. 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. Some records include terms and views that are not appropriate today. 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. Twenty three years after the Mabo decision we are going through another adaption as we talk about how we can start to enjoy the benefits that come from land ownership in the same way that is open to all other Australians, without compromising our unique rights as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The great polish poetCzeslawMilosz said perhaps all memory is the memory of wounds. A fair go in an age of terror: countering the terrorist threat to human rights and the Australian identity, Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, Bachelor of Engineering / Science (Honours), Master of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Bachelor of Nursing Science [Pre-Registration], Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Science (Honours), Bachelor of Occupational Therapy (Honours), Master of Public Health - Global Development, Master of Social Work (Professional Qualifying), Master of Teaching and Learning (Primary), Master of Teaching and Learning (Secondary), Master of Conflict Management & Resolution, Graduate Certificate of Conflict Management & Resolution, Master of International Tourism & Hospitality Management, Bachelor of Business & Environmental Science, Diploma of Higher Education Majoring in Business Studies, Diploma of Higher Education Majoring in Engineering and Applied Science, Diploma of Higher Education Majoring in General Studies, Diploma of Higher Education Majoring in Health, Diploma of Higher Education Majoring in Information Technology, Diploma of Higher Education Majoring in Science, Diploma of Higher Education, Majoring in Society and Culture, Bachelor of Business & Psychological Science, Bachelor of Sport & Exercise Science - Bachelor of Psychological Science, Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) & Information Technology, Get Into University Courses with a Low ATAR. I like words. eddie mabo speech transcript eddie mabo speech transcript According to his daughter Gail Mabo, it 'fuelled his determination for recognition and equality in society'. Eddie Mabo, the man who changed Australia - BBC News In 1979 Wiradjuri man and law student Paul Coewalked the path that Eddie Mabo would follow all the way to the High Court of Australia. "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.". Two generations talk about the impact of the 1967 Referendum and the 1992 Mabo Decision . In some ways our systems of governance is a defining feature of the oldest living culture on this planet. The Mabo decision was handed down on June 3, 1992 in the High Court's grand courtroom in Canberra. Mabo died five months earlier from cancer in January 1992, at the age of 55. The "fallacy" that Perkins speaks of is the concept of Terra Nullius, land belonging to no-one. What's the least amount of exercise we can get away with? 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.