Edward 'Koiki' Mabo's Indigenous Rights

The court case consisted of the Queensland government passing an act and trying to pass a law which prevented Aboriginal people, from claiming native title. Native title in Australia being the government recognising the traditional connection that the Indigenous people have with the land and waters. Mabo eventually won this case, the result not being that they could claim native title but that the possibility was

In 1992, the doctrine of terra nullius was overruled by the High Court in the case Mabo v Queensland (No.2) [1992] HCA 23. After recognising that the Meriam people of Murray Island in the Torres Straits were native title landholders of their traditional land, the court also held that native title existed for all

The individual who had their rights infringed was Eddie Mabo, and the group who had their rights infringed were the native Murray island inhabitants who were the original custodians of the land. Eddie Koiki (his islander name) Mabo was born on Murray island, in the Torres Strait on June 29, 1936. A member of the Meriam people, who know the island as Mer, Mabo was adopted and raised by his uncle, Benny Mabo from whom he took his name after his mother’s death. Mabo was expelled from the island for breaking customary laws when he was 16, he moved around nearby communities and eventually settled down in Townsville where he married Bonita and started his family. Mabo first started questioning rights of land ownership in 1969, and started talking about ‘his’ land. The Murray islander’s ancestors were one of the strongest and largest aboriginal tribes centuries

Eddie Koiki Mabo, Torres strait islander from Mer (Murray) island, is notorious for his reputation with the battle against the Australian High Court. The 1992 high court Mabo decision did establish genuine changes for Indigenous involving land rights and relationships; however, these changes were neither substantial nor lasting.

Mabo was a long-running case launched by the Meriam people of the Murray Islands to challenge the validity of state land laws and seek recognition of rights to land.

Eddie Mabo was a tireless advocate for the freedom, justice and the fundamental human rights and land rights of not just his people, the Murray Islanders but for all Indigenous Australians. In 1992 in honour of years of commitment to

In the 1980’s the state and government drew back from pursuing more legislations or granting land rights from the indigenous land rights because of the shortage of popular support in different places of the country. The indigenous fear of losing from votes and it began to take over from the state and progress of the indigenous rights, but all of this changed in 1992 from a case called the Mabo case that took place with a High Court. This case was named after Eddie Mabo, who was an indigenous from the Murray Island in the Torres Strait. He was the head of a group of his fellow indigenous Torres Strait people called the Meriam people and lead them into the Supreme Court to challenge the Queensland government for their land rights and ownership,

The facts of this case is the Ojibwe Indians were entitled to the treaty rights and the rights were not extinguished when Minnesota was admitted as a state in 1958. (Cheeseman H. R. 2013, pp. 16)

Indigenous Australians have been fighting for their civil rights since European colonisation in 1788, in particular, for their rights to land ownership. Prior to the Mabo land rights case, there was very little success when it came to indigenous Australians making claims. The Mabo case took land rights to the highest court in Australia. It succeeded in achieving land rights and overturning Terra Nullius. The Mabo case helped to continue to chip away at the barriers of civil rights. The Mabo Case was a step towards Indigenous equality.

Throughout Australian history, there have been men and women who fought for the entitlements of the indigenous people. The most respected and recognised of these is Eddie Mabo, a Torres Strait Islander. Mabo stood up for the rights of his people from a very young age all the way to his death, in order to generate changes in the policies and laws of the government. Mabo battled for his right to own the land which he had inherited from his adoptive father, a fight which was resolved only after his demise. Despite this, Eddie Mabo became one of the key influential figures in the Aboriginal rights movement, as his strong will, determination, and intelligence allowed him to bring about change.

Charles Perkins was an Australian whose birth took place in Alice Spring’s Telegraph Station which was controlled by police, in the year 1936. He and his mother called a mud hut home in Alice Springs until they were coerced to leave, for a law existed which prohibited the inhabitation of Aboriginals in this area. Although he was removed from his home, he is not said to have been part of the Stolen Generation. Being forced to leave Alice Springs, Charles was left a scar as it is documented that he did not live there again. However, since he was raised there and his childhood experiences and memories were stamped there, he made it a habit to visit there on a regular basis. It is believed that Charles was around ten years of age when he relocated.

Good morning ladies and gentlemen, I am here to discuss the effects that Neville Bonner had on the land rights and freedoms of aboriginal Australians. Australia has a history of discrimination. This is proven by the amount of effort it took to change the rights of indigenous Australians. One of the most effective aboriginal Australian’s was Neville Bonner, who I will speak about today. Neville Bonner had a significant impact on the rights and freedoms of indigenous peoples due to his involvement in parliament and his determination to live freely as an aboriginal. We will discuss throughout the speech Neville’s background and childhood, the changes he made to the rights of aboriginal peoples and who they impacted, as well as why he decided to make a difference to the lives of aborigines.

Eddie Mabo has had such an impact on today’s society for indigenous people and the Meriam people were facing racial discriminations in their community. Some of Eddie Mabo’s many achievements include “campaigning for better access for Indigenous peoples to legal and medical services, housing, social services and education and establishing the Townsville Black Community School.” (Stephenson, 1989-1999). Mabo believed that it was along for the Australians along with Terra Nullius, a legal document which held that Australia as unoccupied at the time of colonization. “I was sitting in a car breastfeeding my six month old son, who was born the day before I buried my dad, when I heard on the radio we had won the case. I started crying and thinking that if my father was alive he would be dancing. I then heard the sound of thunder and said to my son ‘hear that, he is dancing.” (Australian Government, 2014). Eddie Mabo has contributed to the Australian History a lot with his beliefs. Firstly, he has

On August the 16th, 1975, Gough Whitlam, the Prime Minister at the time, organised a ceremony so that he could give the land back to the Gurindji people. At the ceremony, Whitlam grabbed some soil from the ground and said “Vincent Lingiari, I solemnly hand to you these deeds as proof, in Australian law, that these lands belong to the Gurindji people and I put into your hands part of the earth itself as a sign that this land will be the possession of you and your children forever.” And although the land had been given back, the name was not open to change until 1986, 2 years before Lingiari’s death.

Even though there has been fluctuation in particular crime categories, overall crime in general has decreased in Australia in recent years (Dearden & Bricknell: 2008). It is due to this fluctuation in particular crimes that the media continues to play a role in misrepresenting crime rates, creating community fear and concerns regarding crime in this country (Kidd-Hewitt: 2002). The flow on effect is that it creates extra pressure on law enforcement agencies to try and bring crime under control. Law enforcement agencies turn to criminal investigators who are the ones that analyse crime information and provide guidance and advice to them. As with technology advancing, so is the face of crimes, with crimes becoming more sophisticated, organised and global (Laycock: 2008). With these advances in technology it creates more opportunities for offenders to commit crimes. It is the goal of criminal investigators to reduce or eliminate these opportunities and thus reducing crime. Just like offenders who take the opportunities to commit crime, criminal investigators take the opportunity to use and apply their new knowledge to their working practices. Research suggests that traditional policing methods (reactive, incident-driven approach) are ineffective. If traditional policing methods are ineffective, then investigators have to look for an alternative to effectively deal with crime without using excessive imprisonment. Whilst in the past criminal investigators have