Eddie Mabo's role in Land Rights

Eddie Mabo was born with the name Koiki Mabo in 1936 on the Torres Strait island known as Mer, which is also known as Murray Island. He was the fourth child of Robert and Poipe Sambo. 

Following his mother's death soon after his birth, Eddie was adopted by his uncle, Benny Mabo.

He was a member of the Meriam people, who have resided on the islands for more than 6000 years.

Despite having few material possessions, Mabo's childhood was marked by contentment. He grew up fishing, hunting, and gathering food from the land.

He attended school until he was 14 years old, after which he began working as a laborer on pearling boats.

In 1959, he married his wife Bonita, and they raised 10 children together.

In 1967, Eddie Mabo became a gardener at James Cook University. It was here that he began questioning why his people did not own their traditional lands, despite their long-standing presence on the islands.

He formed friendships with two James Cook University historians, Noel Loos and Henry Reynolds, who encouraged Mabo to pursue his research on land rights.

Eddie Mabo’s awareness of land rights issues was sparked during conversations at the James Cook University library, where he conducted research that challenged the terra nullius doctrine.

It became clear to him that Australian law failed to recognize any form of Indigenous land ownership by denying more than 60,000 years of continuous connection to the land by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

This was based upon the concept of terra nullius, meaning “land belonging to no one,” which was used by British colonists in 1788 to justify their claim over Australia.

When Mabo's adopted father, Benny, died in 1972, Eddie was told that he could not inherit his father's land because, under Queensland law, Indigenous people did not own the land. 

This is because the Torres Strait Islands, including Murray Island, were annexed by Queensland in 1879.

This deeply upset Mabo and strengthened his resolve to fight for the recognition of Indigenous Australian land rights.

Mabo decided to dedicate his life to this cause, collaborating with other Indigenous Australian activists to raise awareness about the issue.

In 1982, he delivered a speech at James Cook University entitled 'Land Rights are Human Rights,' bringing national attention to the issue of Native Title.

In the same year, Mabo and four other Murray Islanders - Celuia Mapo Salee, James Rice, David Passi, and Sam Passi - filed a lawsuit against the Queensland Government.

They argued that the Murray Islands were the traditional lands of the Meriam people, and that they had been illegally dispossessed of their lands since 1879.

However, lawyers for the Queensland state government contended that the Meriam people had no legal right to their traditional lands, as they had never 'acquired' it from the Crown.

They argued that, under British law known as terra nullius, Australia had been effectively 'empty land' when British settlers arrived in 1788.

This meant that, according to the government, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people had no legal rights to their ancestral lands. 

As a result, the Mabo case was defeated by the Queensland Supreme Court, which was followed by the Queensland Government passing the Queensland Coast Islands Declaratory Act 1985 in an attempt to extinguish any future land rights claims.

Not content with that decision, Mabo appealed to the High Court of Australia.

The other plaintiffs, except James Rice and David Passi, withdrew from the case before the High Court ruling.

After a decade of legal battles, the case finally went to trial in 1992.

In a historic decision on 3 June, that was deliverd with a 6-1 majority, the court ruled that terra nullius did not apply in Australia and that Indigenous people did indeed have a legal right to their traditional lands.

The court's decision also recognized the existence of Native Title – the right of Indigenous people to their traditional lands.

However, the ruling did not automatically grant land rights but established the framework for Native Title claims.

Instead, title could be awarded subject to proof offered by Indigenous groups that could clearly demonstrate traditional ownership.

Regardless, this groundbreaking ruling overturned centuries of discriminatory legislation and provided momentum for reconciliation efforts between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

The landmark ruling became known as the 'Mabo decision' and reversed centuries of laws that had deprived Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of their land rights. 

Tragically, Eddie Mabo passed away on January 21, 1992, just months before the High Court’s decision that cemented his place in Australian history.

In 1993, as a response to the Mabo decision, the Australian Government introduced the Native Title Act, which acknowledged the rights of Indigenous people to their traditional lands.

Also, the High Court clarified in the 1996 Wik Peoples v Queensland decision that Native Title rights could coexist with pastoral leases.

The Act was amended in 1998, but it has been a subject of controversy as critics argue it accommodates the interests of mining and pastoral leaseholders more than Indigenous communities.

Thanks to Eddie Mabo's courage and determination, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's rights to their traditional lands have been recognized.

Since its introduction in 1993, the Native Title Act has facilitated the recognition of over 1,000 Native Title determinations, covering more than 3 million square kilometers of land.

His fight for justice underscores the enduring significance of Indigenous land rights in Australia.