[New post] AUSTRALIA HISTORY: What is Mabo Day and why is it significant?
ace101 posted: " @acenewsservices This is our daily post that is shared across Twitter & Telegram and published first on here with Kindness & Love XX on peace-truth.com/ #AceNewsRoom With 'Kindness & Wisdom' June.03, 2022 @acehistorynews Ace News R" Peace & Truth
#AceHistoryDesk - For more than 200 years, the Australian governments acted under the presumption that Australia belonged to no-one before colonisation.
WARNING: This story contains images of Indigenous people who have died.
That legal concept, known as "terra nullius", stripped Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of their traditional rights to their lands and attempted to sever connections to cultures dating back 65,000 years.
June 3 marks the momentous victory to overturn that precedent in the High Court and honours the legacy of the man behind it — Eddie Mabo.
Here's what you need to know about Mabo Day.
Who was Eddie Mabo?
Eddie Koiki Sambo was born on June 29, 1936 on the Torres Strait island of Mer, also known as Murray Island.
His mother died during childbirth and he was raised by his mother's brother, Benny Mabo, whose surname he adopted.
Mabo settled in the Queensland city of Townsville in 1959 with his wife, Bonita.
The Mabo ruling was named after the leading plaintiff, Eddie Mabo.(Supplied: Jim McEwan)none
He was an activist for the Torres Strait Islander community and co-founded one of Australia's first black community schools.
Bonita also co-founded the school and worked there as a teacher's aide.
In 1974, while working as a gardener at James Cook University, Mabo learned from academics Noel Loos and Henry Reynolds that, under Australian law, Mer was Crown land owned by the Australian government — not by the Meriam people.
Mabo gave a speech about Mer's land inheritance system at a Land Rights Conference in 1981, where fellow presenter, Melbourne lawyer Barbara Hocking, argued there should be a test case to claim land rights in court.
A year later, Mabo and four other Meriam people — Celuia Mapo Salee, James Rice, David Passi and Sam Passi — took their legal claim for ownership of the lands of Mer to the High Court.
Ms Hocking wrote the original Statement of Claim in the case and appeared in the first Supreme Court and High Court actions.
Bonita and Eddie Mabo opened the Black Community School in North Queensland.(Supplied)none
What happened on Mabo Day?
On June 3, 1992, the High Court overturned the legal concept of "terra nullius" — that land claimed by white settlers belonged to no-one.
The court ruled in favour of the Meriam people by a majority of six to one vote.
Sadly, Mabo did not live to see his victory, having died of cancer five months earlier aged 55.
Mrs Salee and Sam Passi also passed away before the decision was handed down.
Why was the Mabo decision so important?
The Mabo decision acknowledged the traditional rights of Indigenous people to their land and waters, and paved the way for native title in Australia.
It also recognised that Indigenous people occupied Australia for tens of thousands of years before the British arrived in 1788.
Eddie Mabo's daughter Celuia, wife Bonita and grandson Bryan celebrate in Townsville.(Supplied: Trevor Graham)none
The Australian government passed the Native Title Act in 1993 after 51 hours and 49 minutes of debate in the Senate, the longest-ever debate at the time.
The law set out the framework for Indigenous people to claim native title on Crown land.
But many see native title as an imperfect system which has brought heartache to many First Nations because the onerous conditions required to prove it can make it difficult to obtain.
Who opposed the Mabo case?
The Mabo decision was hailed as a momentous victory for Indigenous rights, however the mining and pastoral sectors were concerned about its implications.
The Queensland government tried to circumvent the outcome by passing the Queensland Coast Islands Declaratory Act in 1985, which retrospectively abolished the Islanders' claims to Mer.
The High Court overturned the law in 1988 because it was inconsistent with the Racial Discrimination Act.
After the 1992 ruling, then-Victorian premier Jeff Kennett fuelled dissent by incorrectly claiming Australian household backyards would be under threat from native title claims.
State governments called for the ruling to be overturned after a series of land claims were lodged from around the country, including several targeting capital cities.
When the Native Title Act passed, it included several conditions that restricted Indigenous peoples' ability to claim native title.
That included not allowing claims on Crown land that is covered by a pastoral lease or other interests that are deemed by law to prevail over native title.
Editor says …Sterling Publishing & Media Service Agency is not responsible for the content of external site or from any reports, posts or links, and can also be found here on Telegram: https://t.me/acenewsdaily and all wordpress and live posts and links here: https://acenewsroom.wordpress.com/and thanks for following as always appreciate every like, reblog or retweet and free help and guidance tips on your PC software or need help & guidance from our experts AcePCHelp.WordPress.Com
Peace & Truth
No comments:
Post a Comment