Edward Koiki Mabo was born on 29 June 1936. He was a Meriam man and grew up on Mer, part of the Murray Island Group in the Torres Strait. 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. 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. Drama Biopic Inspiring. About 800 kilometers north of Cairns sits the small remote community of Mer (Murray) Island in the crystal blue waters of the Torres Strait. Did we miss a chance for a treaty? Charles Passi reflects on the Mabo 3. Business development support and succession planning. 1h 43m. This Declaration on the Right to Development was adopted by the General Assembly in 1986. 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". Today in the midst of winter there is still smoke from a campfire, framing a word spelled out on the lawn: Sovereignty. Mabo Day & Native Title: Who was Eddie Mabo & what is his legacy "It gave us back our pride. 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]. Our landsings gently a song of sadness. That nearly a third of our land mass is Indigenous owned is testament to this. 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. 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. However, most importantly of all, we are now faced with the challenge of how to make the most of our rights to land and native title once we have them, for our prosperity and sustainability. The judge's four hundred page report presented Mabo and his barristers with a bombshell which threatened to sink their case. Bonita 'Netta' Mabo: Eddie's wife and is a resourceful, supportive and loving woman. 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. During this time he enrolled as a student and studied teaching at the College of Advanced Education, which later amalgamated with JCU. The theme of this years conference is Leadership, Legacy and Opportunity. What did Eddie Mabo say in his speech? At: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/property-rights-will-help-economic-development-of-indigenous-australians/story-e6frg6z6-1227365821530 (viewed 3 June 2015), [4] T Calma, Native Title Report 2005, Australian Human Rights Commission, 2005, p82. Edward Koiki (Eddie) Mabo - Australian Dictionary of Biography The golden house of is collapses and the world of becoming ascended.". 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. 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. At http://www.humanrights.gov.au/publications/native-title-report-2008 (viewed 5 June 2015). More information. On 3 June 1992, six of the seven High Court judges upheld the claim and ruled that the lands of . 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. 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. 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." 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 know sadness. They reflect the period in which they were created and are not the views of the National Archives. I had read about the case as it moved through the lower courts. Indigenous Education and Research Centre 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. 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. Mabo 20 years on: did it change the nation? Eddie's daughter, Gail Mabo remembers that day well. Text 1936 "I think that like many others, I was trying to deal with something that was new, that was undefined," Kennett told The Age newspaper. In 1994 the Torres Strait Regional Authority (TSRA) was established in response to Read More They can raise us to anger then soothe us. This is yet another reason why a development approach is so urgently needed. Concocted by the early settlers, it was used, systematically, cynically and effectively to deprive the indigenous people of their own land. From 1973-1983 he established and became director of the Black Community School in Townsville. During this time he enrolled as a student and studied teaching at the College of Advanced Education, which later amalgamated with JCU. 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]. At 31, this affrontery became his epiphany. Vincent Lingiari and men and women of the Gurindji people. Six facts you need to know about Mabo Day - Life Without Barriers To sign treaties. 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. Read about our approach to external linking. 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. He's recorded as saying: "No way, it's not theirs, it's ours." And he was right. In-text: (Two generations talk about the impact of the 1967 Referendum and the 1992 Mabo Decision, 2019) Your Bibliography: Time Out Sydney. We cannot cross the same stream twice. Mabo died five months earlier from cancer in January 1992, at the age of 55. 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. [9] UN Development Programme, Human Development Index, UN Human Development Report. Celebrating Mabo's courage - Jan 2015 - JCU Australia Credit: Alex Ellinghausen No wonder Mr Abbott was visibly moved as he thanked "Aunty Gail" for . Aunty Clara Ogleby, I begin by acknowledging and paying my respects to the Kuku Yalanji people, Traditional Owners of the place upon which we sit and talk today. Eddie Koiki Mabo died of cancer on 21 January 1991, before the case was resolved. It contains just 10 articles on what the instrument describes as an, inalienable right, by which every human person and all peoples are entitled to participate in, contribute to and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development, in which all human rights and fundamental freedoms can be fully realised.[6]. 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. Eddie Mabo was a staff member at JCU, working as a groundsman from 1967 to 1971. Papers of Edward Koiki Mabo I also acknowledge the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Nigel Scullion who is here today and my colleague Tim Wilson, our Australian Human Rights Commissioner. Friendship with Eddie Mabo. 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. Commemorating Mabo Day - Reconciliation Australia The memory of wounds. "The High Court, which is not elected by anybody, not accountable to anybody, had presumed to move into the legislative area to make a whole new law," he said. AAP. It clearly did not, for instance, lead to vast numbers of white Australians being forced from their homes, businesses, mines or farms. That is, after 20 years of operation, we finally saw the first time compensation had been awarded for the extinguishment of native title rights and interests under the Native Title Act. Transcript 3849 | PM Transcripts 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'. Australia owes you a great debt. The issue of compensation for unfinished business was another key theme of the Roundtable. In 1981, Eddie Mabo delivered a speech at James Cook University in Queensland, where he challenged the widely accepted belief of ownership and inheritance of land on Murray Island. Transcript 40979 | PM Transcripts 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. 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. It is clear that we have seen a change in momentum as far as this space is concerned. (2012) This program was published 2 years ago. Truth. They claimed that Murray Island (Mer) and surrounding islands and reefs had been continuously inhabited and exclusively possessed by the Meriam people . Few Australians then knew the name Eddie Mabo. Words like han. A human rights based approach has been a key part of advocacy of all Social Justice Commissioners. In 1959, he moved to mainland Queensland, working on pearling vessels and as a labourer. There will be many words between now and then. Eddie Mabo and Gerard Brennan overturned the terra nullius policy and changed Australia forever. The victory was largely down to one indigenous man called Eddie Mabo. Some records include terms and views that are not appropriate today. And he knew truth. [3] N Pearson in The Australian, Property rights will help economical development of Indigenous Australians, 22 May 2015. 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. It is a feeling. Thank you Russell for your kind words of introduction. We pay our respects to the people, their cultures and Elders past, present and emerging. 5. Our News Later in 1992, Mabo was posthumously awarded the Australian Human Rights Medal. Eddie Mabo had challenged the very ideological establishment of Australia and the first Australians. The decision. A number of key challenges that face Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were explored, particularly when it comes to the full realization of our rights under land rights and native title. He is hardworking and determined, but at the cost of his family life. But that's just 11% of Australia's land mass. As Kevin Mason divedin the ocean, a compliance officer waswatching on the cliffs above. 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. Henry Reynolds (historian) - Wikipedia 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. This effectively overturned the doctrine of terra nullius, which held that Australia didn't belong to anybody before European colonisation. Mabo v State of Queensland | State Library of Queensland The Mabo decision What is the Mabo decision? The National Archives holds a diverse array of records relating to the Mabo case. Mabo decision | National Museum of Australia 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. Eddie Mabo (left) and . 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. Eddie Koiki Mabo Lecture Series. It is sadness beyond the word sadness itself. It felt in this case that the time had come. So, in many ways, the victory has been more symbolic than practical. 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 . Mabo : Working with Indigenous Australians 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". To seek justice we had to speak the words of British law. I was no lawyerbut I knew I sensed this was different. Tony Abbott thanks Eddie Mabo daughter 'Aunty Gail' for helping him Read about our approach to external linking. Powtoon - Eddie Mabo It is clear that the current system has not delivered what had initially been intended to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Another similarity is something that sometimes we do not acknowledge enough. Born in 1936, he grew up in the village of Las on the north bend of Mer Island. British law was the law of the colony and usurped and superseded Aboriginal law. In New South Wales, the most populous state, Aboriginal people have title over only 0.1% of the land. This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN, Reuters, AAP, CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced. 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]. 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