Mabo Decision Essay

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

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.

Firstly the change in legal and constitutional rights have been a great creator of rights for the Aboriginal people. Up until 1967 the Aboriginals did not have the right to be counted in the census. This was basically a way of saying that the Aboriginals were not Australians, almost not even people. Fortunately the 1967 referendum gave Aboriginals citizenship. It did however not end any discrimination against the Aboriginal people and

It also found it was out of step with international human rights and that Aboriginals had been dispossessed of their land rights unlawfully. Native Title Act 1993 After the Mabo case which recognised the existence of native title rights, Land Councils lobbied the Federal Government to legislate to protect any native title that had survived 200 years of colonisation. The Native Title Act 1993 is part of the Commonwealth Government's response to that historic High Court decision.

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.

They claimed that their rights to the land had not been extinguished by the Crown when their islands were taken over or annexed by Queensland. They still had a legal right to the land based on the legal concept of ‘native title’ – right of ownership based on traditional ownership of the land. The Queensland Government’s response was to pass the Coast Islands Declaratory Act, 1985.

The case of Mabo decision with Queensland government was one of the most significant legal case in Australia, which recognised the land rights and the original ownership of Murray islanders in the Torres Strait. It was acting by Murray islanders and the High Court upheld. Based on the successful legal case, there are some key issues in the process for Indigenous’ land rights, which were changed in Australia law and affect future rulings in Australia, such as the Native Title ruling of the Aboriginal people’s land rights after the High Court passed the Act in 1993; in addition, due to this alteration of Australian laws, it not only had a big impact of Murray islanders but also on some other groups of Aboriginal people’s land rights reform.

This case and the resulting test were instrumental in defining aboriginal rights. However, it was also very controversial as it confirmed one thing: aboriginal rights are not absolute and this has been highlighted in numerous cases whereby aboriginal rights being denied.

The 1992 Landmarks High Court case abolishing the doctrine of ‘Terra Nullius’; the foundation of Australia’s settlement paved way for the ‘Native Title Act 1993’. Following the 20 year commemoration of the Mabo decision, the 2012 telemovie ‘Mabo’ directed by Rachel Perkins was released. It depicts the life of Murray Islander man and activist Eddie Koiki Mabo and his family in his grueling fight for land rights. Pride comes before the fall – the ego of one stems destruction. Pride is a sense of satisfaction derived from one’s achievements. It is also a feeling of self-worth and dignity. Eddie is of Murray Island decent and this background stems a lot of

The case of Mabo v Others v State of Queensland (No.2) (1992) 175 CLR 1 (www.austlii, 1993), rewrote common law as the court ruled in a six to one majority, that the people of

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

Many people protested the return of crown land if they had business or agricultural on the land which had led to protests and a lot of people against the Mabo decision. The Queensland cost island declaratory act attempting to take ownership of land in Torres straight for the purpose of government income, prioritising greed over the rights of indigenous people.

Edward ‘Koiki’ Mabo (1936-1992) contributed to the fight for Indigenous rights in the 1960s. He was the first Indigenous Australian to receive the recognition of their land rights in Australia. He worked as a gardener in James Cook University in Queensland. He sat in lectures, where he learned that his island, Mer (Murray Island) was Crown land and the Indigenous Australians were not the traditional owners. Mabo stated that “I’d like to see anyone take my land off me.” This influenced his decision to lead a campaign against the High Court to fight for his land.

There have been many significant cases that have dealt with the issue of jurisdiction. Among these cases was the Sparrow case of 1990. The Court determined that “Aboriginal Rights were constitutionally protected, and that those rights can only be extinguished with First Nations consent.” Moreover, the Court ruled that “Aboriginal rights could only be limited with justifiable reasons and that Aboriginal rights have to be interpreted in a generous and liberal manner.”