Mabo
Published on Nov 18, 2015
An overview of the Mabo Decision and Native Title Act in Australia
MORE DECKS TO EXPLORE
PRESENTATION OUTLINE
Its the vibe
Terra nullius
- Concept of empty land
- Inhabitants viewed as barbaric
- Use of the land ....farming
- Only European law seen as legitimate
Photo by Sweet One
1963 Bark petitions
- First official recognition by Aust Govt.
- Yirrkala people make the first claim to the land
- First consideration of 'Native Title'
How do you know you own something?
Eddie Koiki Mabo thought he owned the land he was born on
Photo by the euskadi 11
how it started
- Eddie Mabo working as a gardener at James Cook University
- Befriends academics and discuss the relationship with the land
- Mabo shocked 'his' land is crown land
- 1981 speech to land rights conference - describes native land inheritance
- Outlines Mer people's system of land ownership and inheritance
Photo by lindley ashline [MOVED to lindley ♫]
challenging the law
Overthrowing 200 years of Terra Nullius
The start of a 10year fight
something worth dying for?
- Began in the QLD Supreme Court ended in the High Court of Australia
- Mabo died from cancer (age 55) - 21 Jan 1992
- 2 other plaintiffs also died during the case.
- The state governement of Qld strongly fought the case
- The final victory came 3 months after Eddie Mabo's death
3rd June 1992
- A 6-1 decision
- Australia was not Terra Nullius at settlement
- Mer community had continuous history
- Mer people had their own legal systems
- Mer people were ENTITLED to possession
The decision struck down the doctrine that Australia was terra nullius - a land belonging to no-one. The High Court judgment found that native title rights survived settlement, though subject to the sovereignty of the Crown. The judgment contained statements to the effect that it could not perpetuate a view of the common law which is unjust, does not respect all Australians as equal before the law, is out of step with international human rights norms, and is inconsistent with historical reality. The High Court recognised the fact that Aboriginal people had lived in Australia for thousands of years and enjoyed rights to their land according to their own laws and customs. They had been dispossessed of their lands piece by piece as the colony grew and that very dispossession underwrote the development of Australia into a nation. http://www.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/abs@.nsf/Previousproducts/1301.0Feature%20Ar...
1983 Native title act
- Passed by Australian Federal Governemnt
- recognises and protects Native Title
- created a system to assess Native Title claims
- Outlines the basis of compensation for those whose claim to the land may be
- Creates a fund to allow dispossessed Indigenous people to purchase land
Death of a king
- Buried in Townsville
- Within days of the High Court Decision the grave was vandalised
- Moved body to Mer- buried as a king with full ceremony
- After his death he was awarded the Australian Human Rights Medal
- In the Torres Islands June 3rd is Mabo Day
