The Australian Aborigine

             Traditional Aboriginal laws and customs were not re-acknowledged until 1971 with the Miliripum vs. Nabalco Pty Ltd Case (the Gove Land Rights case). Even though the notion of Terra Nullius was upheld and native title rights were at this point denied, Judge Blackburn did acknowledge the claimants [the aboriginal people] ritual and economic use of the land and recognized that they had an adequate system of law.".
             Aborigines had established "a subtle and elaborate system of social rules and customs which were adapted to a country in which the people lived and which provided a stable order of society remarkably free of the vagaries of personal whim or influence." .
             Blackburn, J decision in Miliripum v Nabalco (The Gove Land Rights Case)(1970) 17 FLR 141.
             In the Mabo case, the court acknowledged that the Meriam tribe living on the Murray Islands owned that land. It allowed the Aborigines to use, enjoy and occupy the land. "In terms of civil law, the High Court appears to acknowledge that indigenous customary law can and does co-exist with Australian common law." (Heinemann, 2000:234) This decision was an acknowledgement of Aboriginal customary law.
             The High Court concluded that some Aboriginal law survived the colonization process. This was a conclusion confirmed in WA v Commonwealth, Wororra Peoples v WA and Teddy Biljabu and others v WA, High Court, March 16 1995. .
             The question is whether other Aboriginal laws, such laws governing family relationships, community justice mechanisms, criminal law, etc. survived colonization. If the native title survived, why didn't other property laws? Why didn't any traditional laws retain their credence? This issue was not addressed in any of the judgments in Mabo.
             At a 1994 conference in Darwin, the Social Justice Commissioner said this about the issue:.
             "Recognition must be given.to the existence (and survival) of customary law. As indigenous cultures are organic (rather than static), customary law may exist (albeit in an evolved/evolving format) in contemporary communities, as well as in their more traditionally orientated counterparts.