eddie mabo speech transcript

This led to the subsequent High Court case, Mabo v Queensland (No 2), which was to determine the matter of the plaintiffs' land rights. In 1992 the High Court handed down its historic ruling. 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. 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. In August 1981 Mabo attended a conference on land rights at James Cook University. 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. The nation remained diminished. "I think that like many others, I was trying to deal with something that was new, that was undefined," Kennett told The Age newspaper. 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. 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Transcript ID: 3849. I want to give two words from my people, Wiradjuri. Unlike them, however, Mabo wasn't going to accept it. Other cases persisted. Speech to the Native Title Conference celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Mabo High Court decision 6 June 2012. . This often presents internal issues for traditional owner groups about how decisions are made and how benefits will be shared and responsibilities exercised. I like how the words create a rhythm. [9] UN Development Programme, Human Development Index, UN Human Development Report. But alongside . 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. Edward Koiki Mabo was born on 29 June 1936. In 1959, he moved to mainland Queensland, working on pearling vessels and as a labourer. Eddie Mabo was a staff member at JCU, working as a groundsman from 1967 to 1971. They ruled that the Mabo decision in no way challenges the legality of non-Aboriginal land tenure. 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]. But he was wrong. So, in many ways, the victory has been more symbolic than practical. Several cabinet papers from the time of the Mabo decision reflect on its likely ramifications, including: The National Archives of Australia acknowledges the traditional owners and custodians of Country throughout Australia and acknowledges their continuing connection to land, sea and community. Concocted by the early settlers, it was used, systematically, cynically and effectively to deprive the indigenous people of their own land. Mabo made a speech to the audience where he explained the indigenous customary land inheritance system on Murray Island. 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. 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]. A human rights based approach has been a key part of advocacy of all Social Justice Commissioners. It is lament. He is hardworking and determined, but at the cost of his family life. and in 2008 James Cook University named its Townsville campus library the Eddie Koiki Mabo Library. On 8 December 1988, the High Court ruled this legislation invalid. He was right. 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. The court dismissed his challenge to Australian sovereignty, but in his opinion Justice Lionel Murphy rattled the bones of the Australian settlement. " 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 . As a nation, this is an improvement from fourth position just over ten years ago in 2003.[10]. The man who had engineered the historic change of law, never lived to witness it himself. 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. It is this issue of development that I will explore later in greater detail. 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. Vincent Lingiari and men and women of the Gurindji people. We go on, he said, ever, ever, ever on. 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]. (2012) This program was published 2 years ago. (2014 lecture transcript), 2013 Presentation by Dr Bryan Keon-Cohen QC. There was something of destiny in the air. Here we are 30 years later, still on that journey. Mabo 20 years on: did it change the nation? This is yet another reason why a development approach is so urgently needed. A lawyer heard the speech and asked . 2023 BBC. The Mabo decision was named after Eddie Mabo, the Mabo expressed disbelief and shock. A clear theme from the Broome Roundtable revealed a common frustration among many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. In fact, the court went to considerable lengths to establish that the impact of its judgment will be minimal on non-Aboriginal Australians. Winanghanha is to return to knowing: to know what we have always known. This activity encourages children to write down their knowledge in a structured report . We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work. 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. It clearly did not, for instance, lead to vast numbers of white Australians being forced from their homes, businesses, mines or farms. These are the traditional lands and waters of the Meriam people, and the final resting place of Eddie Mabo in Las Village. But it was a bittersweet moment for the indigenous population. Later in 1992, Mabo was posthumously awarded the Australian Human Rights Medal. The decision. Mabo and others: products or agents of progress? You Murray Islanders have won that court case. A documentary, Mabo: Life of an Island Man, directed by Trevor Graham, was released in 1997 and received the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Documentary. 3. Business development support and succession planning. In one, the presiding judge said the mere introduction of British law did not extinguish Aboriginal customary law. The truth: This was his land. The Mabo decision was a legal case held in 1992. Mabo was a Torres Strait islander from Mer (Murray Island), off Australia's north-east coast. 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. Australia owes you a great debt. About 800 kilometers north of Cairns sits the small remote community of Mer (Murray) Island in the crystal blue waters of the Torres Strait. It felt in this case that the time had come. And he was right. To make agreements. We cross rivers and we are changed like the water itself. 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. 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. Watch all your favourite ABC programs on ABC iview. 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. Then, in June 1992, the years of sacrifice and persuasion came to fruition. His mother died during childbirth and he was raised by his mother's brother, Benny Mabo . Eternal. This link is the basis of the ownership of the soil, or better, of sovereignty., "This is the torment of our powerlessness.". Eddie Koiki Sambo was born on June 29, 1936 on the Torres Strait island of Mer, also known as Murray Island. In-text: (Two generations talk about the impact of the 1967 Referendum and the 1992 Mabo Decision, 2019) Your Bibliography: Time Out Sydney. 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". 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. 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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. [7] OHCHR Website, Essays in Commemoration of 25 years of the United Nations Declaration on the Right to Development. Six weeks later his father died. I was there as a young associate working for a judge, and saw the jubilation and relief of . We all know about the legacy of native title left by Meriam and Murray Islanders Edward Koiki Mabo, David Passi and James Rice. It is short for Mabo and others v Queensland (No 2) (1992). And he knew truth. 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". The legal decision was made by the High Court on 3 June 1992. 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 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. 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. The issue of compensation for unfinished business was another key theme of the Roundtable. That is the view most widely endorsed by history. Husband, father, grandfather, mate, advocate, achiever, Principal and mentor. 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. [1] It was brought by Eddie Mabo against the State of Queensland and decided on 3 June 1992. Mabo died five months earlier from cancer in January 1992, at the age of 55. Watch. 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. We will adapt, we will take advantage of these opportunities and we will leave a great legacy. 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. . 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. He was another victim of Terra Nullius, like so many of his fellow indigenous people had been before him. 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.

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eddie mabo speech transcript