Assessment Resource Centre (ARC)

Land Rights and Native Title

Eddie Mabo, with the help of many other important figure heads of the Australian political and legal scene in Australia during the late 1980’s, took to court a case of Aboriginal land rights that would spark a turning point in the battle for freedoms and equality for the Aboriginal people.

After the Queensland government in the 1980’s threatened to claim ownership of the land and sea surrounding the Torres Strait Islands of Mer, Eddie Mabo, representing generations of past Mer Islanders, took the case of his people to the courts, and all the way to the High Court of Australia. Mr Mabo claimed that the Queensland Government was acting outside of its powers by claiming ownership of these islands and pointed out three important points: he successfully showed that the Indigenous peoples of the Mer region were eligible for Native Title ownership over the islands as they have been the sole occupants of the area since time immemorial, and he evidence of a strong language, religion and underlying politics that had existed with the Mer people for ever. Such acknowledgement of this by the High Court helped to disprove Terra nullius, which is a legal term meaning that the area was uninhabited before White settlement. By disproving Terra nullius, the courts then ruled in favour of Mr Mabo and the people of Mer for the could not see no legal way for the Queensland government to claim ownership of the land that had been owned already since time immemorial.

The ‘Mabo’ case, as it came to be known, is of vital importance to the changing rights and freedoms of the Aboriginal people in Australia. The recognition of native title and the abolishment of Terra nullius which came as a result of this case acted as a huge and driving force for many other legal land ownership battles for the Aborigines to come. Thanks to Eddie Mabo, thousands of Aborigines now enjoy the ownership of land that was once stolen from them and this is a great step towards reconciliation and hence equality in Australia.

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