Mabo Decision & Native Title Act

The Native Title Act (1993)

1. To provide for the recognition and protection of native title.

2. To establish ways in which future dealings affecting native title may proceed and to set standards for those dealings.

3. To establish a mechanism for determining claims to native title.

4. To provide for, or permit, the validation of past acts, and intermediate period acts, invalidated because of the existence of native title.

Mabo Decision & Native Title Act

The Native Title Act

The Native Title Act was established in 1993, and it's purpose was to acknowledge the interests in the land of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Their rights were changed in the High Court thanks to the efforts of the Meriam people and Eddie Mabo. It recognised that Indigenoous people had rights to the land and waters under traditional law and custom.

Bibliography

Politics

Throughout the time of the legal trials and popularity of Eddie Mabo, the Labor party was running Australia. The most recent election was held on the 24th of March 1990, resulting in a major labor party sweep which ended a 32 year Coalition/Nation party ruling. The Labor party was led by Bob Hawke, with the Queensland premier being Wayne Goss (1989-1996). The Labor party was very popular and the majority of Australians had a positive view on the ruling party. 'The Courier-Mail' even published the nickname 'Goss the Boss' for the premier.

How Significant was the Mabo Case in Australian History?

- Aborigines rejoice as High Court ends terra nullius, 2017 (image), accessed October 23 2017,

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/step-back-in-time/image-gallery/fcee5958c0de06c7cbad36d9045d7832

- Galloway, K 2017, Australian politics explainer: the Mabo decision and native title, The Conversation, accessed October 23 2017, https://theconversation.com/australian-politics-explainer-the-mabo-decision-and-native-title-74147

- Mabo: history is made, (image), accessed October 23 2017, https://karllohdehistory1.weebly.com/a-satisfying-outcome.html

- 2012, Mabo - a timeline, ABC News, accessed October 25 2017, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-06-03/mabo-a-timeline/4047186

- 2015, Mabo Case, AIATSIS, accessed October 23 2017, https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/articles/mabo-case

- 2017, Eddie Koiki Mabo, AIATSIS, accessed October 23 2017, https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/articles/eddie-koiki-mabo

- 2017, Queensland Premiers, Queensland Government, accessed October 25 2017, https://www.qld.gov.au/about/about-queensland/history/premiers

- 2017, Wayne Goss, Wikipedia, accessed October 23 2017, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Goss

- 2017, What is Native Title?, The Aurora Project, accessed October 25 2017, https://auroraproject.com.au/what-native-title

The Mabo case was a significant legal case in Australia that ended successfully for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia. Because of this achievement and the establishment of The Native Title Act, they were able to reclaim their land and abolish the term 'terra nullius' that was in place since the English Settlement.

The Wik Decision

The Wik Peoples vs Queensland (or commonly known as the Wik Decision), is also a legal case presented by the people of Wik against the state of Queensland claiming their land and asking for Aboriginal land rights. The decision occured on the 23rd of December 1996

The Queensland Government dissmisses this claim in 1985 in the Supreme Court of Queensland.

Eddie and his legal team continued to take the case to The High Court of Australia in 1988, leading to their victory and recognition of the owners of the land in 1992.

Unfortunately Eddie could not witness the victory he had been persisting for, as he died 5 months earlier from cancer, aged 56.

About Eddie Koiki Mabo

- A newspaper article published in 1992

- A similar newpaper articles pubished in 'The Austrlian' on Thursday, June 4th 1992

Eddie was born in 1936 on the island Mer (Murray Island) in Queensland, just north of the Great Barrier Reef. He moved to Townsville and became a gardener at a university. Eddie became an activist in the 1967 Referendum Campaign, with his focus becoming land rights in 1974 after he discovered that he did not own the land that he grew up on.

In 1981, after discovering he is no longer connected to the land he grew up on, Eddie makes a speech about land ownership and the inheritence system at the university that he worked at.

After sugguestion from a lawyer at the conference, Mabo decides to challenge the 'terra nullius' concept in court. This legal claim was made in 1982