Introduction
In 1993, the former Victorian Premier, Jeff Kennett, stated that ‘from good we gain pride; from the bad we learn; and from the totality of our past we gain our identity'. In his speech, Kennett speaks about his ideologies of republicanism and his “excitement” for the potential for the nation to position itself for the future. The quote is derived from a section of his speech, where Kennett is talking about Australia’s history with the United Kingdom and how it is best forgotten. He states that whilst this section of Australian history is best forgotten, Australia, as a nation, cannot pick and choose its history. Without this cultural inheritance, specifically, the adoption of the United Kingdom’s constitutional and legal systems,
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The situation no longer directly affected the Non-Indigenous Australians, as Non-Indigenous Australians had thought that the process of reconciliation was complete, with the matters of the Indigenous Australians now handed over to the Australian Government. Over the course of the next 10 years, the nation became apathetic towards indigenous affairs, however public interest was revived in 1982 when Eddie Mabo, an Indigenous land rights activist and several others challenged action against the State of Queensland and the Commonwealth of Australia in the High Court over Indigenous land rights in the Murray Islands. This gained massive media coverage, as it was the first time that the issue of Indigenous land rights had been raised at a federal level. At this time, it was unexpected, as many, again, believed that the altering of the constitution had closed the seal on reconciliation. It was not a high priority for the Government who, at the time, was trying to meet the political demands driven by the public to fix the Australian economy, which whilst booming, was leaving thousands unemployed, with high-interest rates, a catalyst for impending disaster. The Commonwealth was completely unprepared, and as the Mabo story gained traction, apathy started to fade away, knocking down any political policy the government had set out to conquer at the beginning of its term. On 3 June, 1992, the High Court of Australia rejected the doctrine of terra nullius and recognised Indigenous land rights for the first time. In doing so, the Commonwealth had admitted that the Indigenous peoples had lived in Australia for thousands of years, that their land had slowly dissolved into the colonies as they grew, underwriting the Australian identity. This lack
In the 1971 Gove land rights case, Justice Blackburn ruled that Australia was terra nullius prior European settlement. This judgement was challenged for a total of 3 years but all attempts failed. However, on the 20th May 1982, Eddie Koiki Mabo and 4 other Indigenous people began their legal claim for ownership of their traditional lands on the island of Mer in the Torres Strait. The case was later taken to supreme court and after ten years, the case was closed and the government granted the indigenous people of australia their rightful land. Before this, Eddie had been helping his community from a young age.
Eddie Mabo, full name Edward Koiki Sambo, devoted a great deal of time in his life to fight for the land rights of his people. He is now a central figure and household name for advocating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land rights and traditional ownership, but the story of his success, and how it changed Australia, has many heroes. Along with Mabo, plaintiffs Flo Kennedy and David Passi were geared up to launch a test case in the courts to dispute the doctrine of terra nullius; the existing law that stated Australia was officially considered empty land before British settlement. However the process of carrying out a test case proved to be difficult and compelled some of the plaintiff’s to withdraw. Later in the year of 1989, Mabo and James Rice was the only plaintiff’s left
From the 1970’s Australians have been viewed as bush people as they were seeming as heroic and brave. Never the less, internationally, Australians have been showcased as vulgar, racist that have strong pride for their country. Consequently, Australia has also been viewed as an alcoholic nation as companies continuously push the stereotype to market their products. In turn, Australian’s collective identity is made up of multiple other stereotypes that have been fed into. Despite being incorrectly portrayed; the Australian identity has a positive effect on Australian culture.
However, this was completely disregarded by Australians. ' The native inhabitants of any land have an incontrovertible right to their own soil, however, which seems not to have been understood ‘ was a statement by House of Commons select committees report on Australian Colonies in 1837. This lead to Australians using the concept of ' Terra Nullius’ implying that Australia was unoccupied at the time of ‘discovery’. We now rightfully recognise that there were others here before us that should have rights to their own land that we wrongfully took
When the Europeans first arrived in Australia, Indigenous Australians lost all their land rights. This was mainly due to the Europeans claiming that Australia was Terra nullius. Terra Nullius was a international law stating that if territory was not owned, it was to be given to the first nation to discover it and entitled to take over. The Europeans did not recognise the Aboriginals and Torres Strait islander people as the traditional owners of Australia and therefore took all there land rights. The indigenous people were then constricted by the terra nullius rule from 1788 to 1991.
Edward Koiki Mabo (Eddie) is a well-known Australian Indigenous person, who throughout his lifetime was committed to obtaining justice for Indigenous Australians. His greatest achievement was his stand against racial discrimination and his fight for Australian laws to recognise the traditional land rights of his family and the Meriam People of Murray Island. As a result, the doctrine of terra nullius, that claimed Australia was a land without owners, was overturned, changing Australian law forever, and the Native Title Act was introduced, which legally recognised the traditional land rights of Indigenous Australians. Edward Mabo was born Edward Koiki Sambo, at Mer (Murray Island), in the Torres Straits on c. 29 June, 1936, and at that time
The Mabo decision of the high court in 1992 is vastly significant as it marks history as the victory of indigenous Australian land rights against the federal government, who had colonised their land and refused to acknowledge that Australia was originally owned by the ATSI people but became a terra nullius land due to the European colonists. The events that have occurred before 1992 such as the The Aboriginal Land Rights Act (NT) of 1976 and the bark petition is deemed less significant than the Mabo decision. I firmly believe that the Mabo case is an extraordinary achievement. it started in 1982 when Eddie Mabo brought up a case against the supreme court of Queensland that Indigenous Australians should have land rights. After almost a whole
The Mabo Decision was the turning point for the recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights. Firstly, the Mabo Decision was significant because the decision was the lead up to the recognition of Aboriginal Rights. The Mabo Decision was the movement that made everyone fully recognise the Aboriginal people as humans, and official citizens of the country. The Decision also raised awareness to the discrimination the Aboriginal people were facing before the referendum.
“Wave Hill was a major step on the long road towards equality between settlers and indigenous Australians,” says Professor Deborah Rose, an anthropologist at the University of New South Wales in Sydney (Dineley, 2013). This situation of land theft by the white settlers was, and still is to this day, a very prominent issue and unfortunately many did not have the same resolution as the Gurindji strike. This strike was seen as "the first claim for traditional Aboriginal land in Australia (Korff, Jens. 2014). " A very giant step forward and the beginning of Aboriginal land rights occurred on August 16, 1975, five years after the start of the Gurindji strike, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam in the Labor party handed over the entitled land to the Gurindji people. This event carved the path for the Northern Territory land rights act of 1975 and in the same year the Gurindji people were able to purchase the pastoral lease for the Gurindji land and the developing in to the Gurindji people gaining the free hold title to the waterhole on Wattie Creek in 1986, which is where the Gurindji people stayed after leaving the cattle station during the strike in 1966.
We are gathered here today, in loving memory of the greatest prime minister to ever grace Australian soil. Gough Whitlam broke a 23-year-old dry spell for the labour party and although his term in office was a mere three years, in that three years he did more than any other prime minister ever has and truly began to shape the Australia we live in today. From humble beginnings, to fighting for Australia, Whitlam was a man of great courage and will and for that his legacy will transpire long past his time. FIRST BODY PARA: ‘Terra Nullius’ the two words that initiated white superiority in Australia for over 100 years. Gough Whitlam was the first Australian prime minister to accept instead of oppress and put an end to a previously idealistic
His activism and leadership in the land rights movement helped to bring about important changes in Australian law and society, and his legacy continues to inspire Indigenous people around the world. One of Mabo's most significant contributions was his role in the landmark Mabo v Queensland case, which was decided by the High Court of Australia in 1992. This case overturned the legalism of terra nullius, which had been used to justify the dispossession of Indigenous peoples' lands by European colonizers. The court recognized that Indigenous peoples had a pre-existing system of land ownership and that this system had not been extinguished by British colonization. This decision paved the way for the recognition of Indigenous land rights in Australia and helped to establish a legal framework for the negotiation of land rights agreements between Indigenous peoples and the Australian government.
One of the most significant events in Aboriginal peoples struggle for rights in Australia was the Mabo decision in 1992. This event took away the myth of terra nullius from Australian law and would recognise rights that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have to the land and waters according to tradition. Thus, creating way for the legal recognition of native land titles (Loos & Mabo, 2013). This essay will explain the impact of the Mabo decision, what events led to this event and what impact this has on Australian people today.
Speeches made within the past are still relevant to today’s society as the issues they have faced are significant to the values of the present. The statement: "Any significant and valued speech is able to transcend its immediate context", is exemplified within Paul Keating 's Redfern Address (1992) and Noel Pearson 's An Australian History for Us All (1996). Within these speeches, the themes of taking responsibility for actions and the importance of reconciliation resonate as they have influenced change in present-day Australia through new laws and forming the basis of Australian society. Conducted in a predominantly Aboriginal community, the former Prime Minister of Australia, Paul Keating addresses a controversial topic in celebration of
The Mabo decision changed the legal, political and social relationships between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. In recognising the traditional rights of Murray Islanders it changed Australia forever. The Mabo decision opened the doors for other indigenous people and groups to be able to claim ownership of land. They were required to prove that they had continuous connection to the land and maintained their traditional associating with it. The 'native title ' is the recognition by law that some aboriginal and torres strait islander people have rights to certain land due to their traditional laws and customs.
During the next 20 years’ Australian citizens grew to consider themselves separate from ‘Mother Country’ making Australia a nation in its own right. This line of thought lead to people questioning if it was still acceptable to give everything they had for Britain. In particular, was it sensible to join a war no matter what the cost to