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Eddie Mabo

            Eddie Mabo was a fighter for the land rights of Aboriginals. During the 70's, the Queensland Government denied the Meriam Islanders the use of their land. Eddies Mabo led his people into court challenging the Queensland Government in 1982. He stated that his people had inhabited the Island long before the European arrival.
             Eddie Mabo challenged the right of the Queensland Government to take away his peoples land. He lost his case in the Queensland Supreme Court, so he turned to the High Court of Australia. The High Court of Australia handed down its historic decision on the 3rd of June 1992. This was a tremendous victory for Eddie Mabo and his community.
             The Mabo decision is important to all Australians as it states that Indigenous Australians were the true owners of Australia. It also erased the fictitious "Terra Nullius". Many people thought that they will lose their land as a result of the trial but this is false. Aboriginals do not have the right to claim land that has already been purchased. Many Australians didn't realise this and many myths began to surface in society. People believed that they could lose their homes and that Aboriginals had the ability to purchase land for free. They also believed that natural resources might be claimed and a few believed that they didn't have the right to any land.
             The Mabo decision triggered the creation of the Native Title Bill. The bill set straight the details of the land ownership. The main feature of the law was to recognise land rights for people who own freehold property and also people with pastoral leases. For Aboriginals wanting to claim land under the act, have to prove that they have been living on the land continuously since 1788.
             The work done by Eddie Mabo and his supporters reunited many Aboriginals with their traditional land. He will forever be remembered and praised by many Australians. His work was a huge leap forward in Aboriginal conditions and hopefully; there will be more like him to help the Aboriginal community.


Essays Related to Eddie Mabo

1. Aboriginal Australia

... developments in recent history in regards to native title have been the court's decisions in the Mabo case (1992) and the Wik case (1993). The Mabo case (1992) was brought about by Eddie Mabo and a group of Torres Strait Islanders who took the State of Queensland to court. Their ... the Wik decision thus creating upheaval and conflict between the government, mining corporations and the Aboriginal land rights plaintiffs. Twelve months after the Mabo judgement the Native Title Act (1993) was passed. Indigenous Australians criticized this delay. After much consulting with interest groups ...

  • Word Count: 1393
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

2. Changes to the rights and freedoms of aboriginals 1900-today

... . Some of the main issues being the stolen generation, the equality of Aboriginals among white Australians, the 1967 Referendum, the Day of Mourning, assimilation, the Aboriginal Tent Embassy and the Eddie Mabo case. All these events have contributed to the changes that have occurred to the rights and freedoms of Aboriginal people between 1900 and today. When the white explorers first came ... Aboriginals. There have also been a lot of contemporary issue that have contributed to changes in the rights and freedoms of aboriginals. Those including the Eddie Mabo case, and Aboriginal deaths ...

  • Word Count: 884
  • Approx Pages: 4

3. Aboriginal Spirituality

... Australian justice system. The most common case and the case that rewrote the Australian common law was Mabo. The Meriam people led by Eddie Mabo were on a crusade to overturn the doctrine Terra Nullius. The Mabo case went to the High Court and the decision was a boost in the struggle for land ownership ... law and links to the land. This therefore gave the aborigines rights to the land, which existed before colonisation and in the present. The Mabo outcome was not only a significant step for the Meriam people it was also a giant step for aborigines from all over Australia. For aborigin...

  • Word Count: 1002
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

4. Australian Aboriginal Spirituality.

... self-determination for Indigenous people _ revoking of discriminant laws and policies _ various states began to consider Land Rights Legislation 1990s " inquiries into and recognition of past injustices _ eg, Mabo overturned lies of the past Today " some form of reconciliation, not achieved yet _ still problems with housing, land rights, health, and within the legal system _ The Gove Land ... Hawke called for a treaty recognising that Aborigines lived in Australia before 1788 _ Barunga Statement, list of rights and laws calling for a treaty _ there is still no treaty _ Mabo _ 1982-1999 _...

  • Word Count: 2422
  • Approx Pages: 10
  • Grade Level: High School

5. The Changing Face Of Social Movements In Australia: Activism

... ). Central to the Indigenous rights movement was the principle of land rights, a principle that was to become a movement of its own emerging in the late 1970s (Burgmann, 1993; Bullimore, n.d.). Eddie Koiki Mabo, a Torres Strait Islander, is one of the most infamous crusaders for land rights. In 1992, after a 10 year legal battle the high court announced its historical decision to overturn the ... British declaration of Terra-Nullius or no man's land (Caldicott, 2002). Justice Moynihan's decision was that although Eddie Mabo was not the rightful heir to the land, native title did exist an...

  • Word Count: 1530
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

6. Overview of Aboriginal and European Cultures

... and worldwide awareness. It caused embarrassment to the Australian Government as the media gave a worldwide voice to their plight. In 1992, Eddie Koiki Mabo won an eleven-year court case concerning the ownership of the Murray Islands of the Torres Strait. Mabo convinced the High Court that his people had at no time relinquished title and ownership of that land and as such ... their ownership should be fully restored. Mabo was the first Aboriginal man to win a court case concerning land rights issues. In 1993, the Native Title Act was established that recognised that Australia was not "T...

  • Word Count: 1408
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

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