As Eddie “Koiki” Mabo outlined his plans to shake the foundations of Australian law, he told his teenage daughter his prophecy: “Someday, all of Australia will know my name.”
Key points:
- Today marks 30 years since the Supreme Court issued Mabo’s historic decision
- The case paved the way for indigenous land rights and claims of native titles across the country
- Key First Nations communities and leaders have gathered on the Sunshine Coast to commemorate the day
Reflecting on her father’s gigantic legacy, Gail Mabo remembers that moment with a smile.
Today, three decades ago, Mabo’s struggle came to fruition, when the Australian High Court ruled in favor of revoking the myth of terra nullius, or “land that belongs to no one”.
The historic case set the stage for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across the country to begin regaining control and ownership of their lands.
“I have the utmost respect for the fact that he took over the government and won,” Ms Mabo said.
Gail Mabo is glad her father’s job was not in vain. (Rick Eaves)
A Meriam man, Mabo had been a school principal, bus driver, cultural teacher and activist before coming to work as a gardener at James Cook University in the 1980s.
While having lunch one day with university historians Henry Reynolds and Noel Loos, he was told that, by law, his island was considered Crown land.
Gail Mabo said the finding provoked anger in her father and sparked a decade of activism and a definite legal battle.
“The conversation that came out of that was, ‘You don’t really own your land.’ And he said, ‘No, it’s my land.'”
Koiki died a few months before the High Court reached a decision. (Provided by: Jim McEwan)
In 1992, six of the seven judges of the High Court found that the Meriam people had traditional rights over their lands, and in doing so, the court found that the native title existed for all indigenous peoples.
Knowing the High Court ruling was a bittersweet moment for the Mabo family, because Koiki had died a few months before it was handed down.
Gail Mabo heard the news of the decision in the car on ABC radio, and as the bulletin aired, she recalled that the sky had opened up over her.
“Everything he did was not in vain,” he said.
“He achieved what he set out to do, which was to reclaim his land. It was the most proud moment.”
Mabo’s grandson on a mission to restore Koiki’s paradise
About 800 miles north of Cairns lies the small remote community of the island of Mer (Murray) in the crystal clear waters of the Torres Strait.
These are the traditional lands and waters of the village of Meriam, and the final resting place of Eddie Mabo in Las Village.
The island of Mer is about 800 km north of Cairns. (Brodie Rocca)
The island is now home to a modern struggle to preserve its legacy, led by Mabo’s grandson Kaleb Mabo.
When Mr. Mabo visited the island last year, finding it “swallowed by the bush and the ocean.”
Seeing the state of his homelands prompted him to embark on a fundraising project to restore the island his grandfather loved so much.
“The man I’m doing this for is a national hero,” Mr. Mabo.
“The island has not been maintained, many things need to be replaced, such as the garden irrigation system.
“I think that’s the least people can do to help honor and give this man a well-deserved rest.”
Eddie Mabo Jnr, Koiki Mabo and Greg McIntyre interviewed on Mer Island in 1989. (Supplied by: Powerhouse Museum / Trevor Graham Collection)
Mr. Mabo has also been working alongside the National Native Title Council to promote “Mabo Day” on June 3, to make it a national holiday.
He said the day was widely celebrated in the islands and in some communities in Queensland, but he would like his grandfather’s footprint to be officially honored on a larger scale.
“In the wider community and in big cities, there is not a day known to recognize what it has done,” he said.
“There’s no day in Australia that celebrates First Nations people … so it’s a good first step.”
The native title became both transformative and tortuous
The Mabo case ended up being a complex and heavy struggle for the plaintiffs and eventually lasted a decade.
In 1982, Mabo and other Mer Islanders, Celuia Mapo Salee, the Rev. David Passi, Sam Passi and James Rice filed a lawsuit in the Australian High Court.
Greg McIntyre said Eddie Mabo changed Australia. (ABC News: Jedda Costa)
A young Perth-based lawyer named Greg McIntyre worked on the case from the beginning and said there was “excitement” when the verdict was finally handed down.
Lawyers called the only cabin on the island of Mer to broadcast the news of the decision and were able to hear the islanders of Mer shout “We have won, we have won!”.
McIntyre SC said that if he could see Mabo now, he would let him know that “he changed Australia and its legal foundations”.
“It’s a pity Koiki didn’t survive [to see the case through]. All the plaintiffs have now left and many of the senior lawyers have left a legacy, “he said.
But Mr McIntyre SC laments that while Mabo caused indigenous communities to gain the rights to native titles, it has been a “torturous” process for many mafias.
The Yorta Yorta peoples of Victoria were one of the first Aboriginal groups to file a native title claim following Mabo’s decision in 1994, but their case was eventually dismissed by the High Court.
Yorta Yorta’s elder Monica Morgan said the process left her heartbroken.
“I think [the Native Title process] it is useless. It’s a wonderful thing that people can get to the table, but when it comes to real rights for us and land rights, it’s not fair, ”he said.
Monica Morgan says the native title process is not fair to traditional owners. (ABC News: Jedda Costa)
In 2002, the court ruled that the “tide of history” had been wiped out and therefore extinguished the rights to Yorta Yorta’s native titles.
However, in April 2004, the Bracks government announced a cooperation agreement with the people of Yorta Yorta that included the recognition of public lands, rivers, and lakes throughout north-central Victoria.
Ms Morgan is pushing for traditional landowners across the country to “maintain sovereignty” looking for alternative ways to gain autonomy over their land and water.
He said the legal framework for Native Title was not established in favor of traditional owners.
“Native Title is not a black-based land rights system. It is to protect the interests of white people,” he said.
He said Mabo inspired indigenous peoples across the country to “never settle down”.
“Fighting the fight to the end, that’s how we’ve been taught. I think with each generation there is a different benefit and I think we just have to keep the line,” he said.
Posted 2 hours, 2 hours ago, Thu, June 2, 2022 at 6:52 pm, updated 33 minutes ago, 33 minutes ago, Thu, June 2, 2022 at 9:11 PM