1. 2b. Outline the importance of the following for
2b Outline the importance of the following for The Land Rights Movement
MABO
NATIVE TITLE
WIK

2. The Aboriginal Tent Embassy in front of Parliament House in 1972

3. HISTORY
The Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander people have been living on their land for (possibly) 70,000 years
Their whole spirituality and culture is centered on the land
Captain Cook declared Eastern Australia to be the property of the British Monarch in 1770 at Endeavour River, Queensland.
The land was assumed to belong to no one. This situation is described as TERRA NULLIUS
They did not enter into a treaty with the people as had been done in Canada and New Zealand

4. HISTORY (continued)
The history and culture of Aboriginal people were completely ignored.
The British people just didn’t understand their way of life
By declaring the land to be Terra Nullius, the British were able to claim that they had ‘discovered’ it.
Under International law, Terra Nullius land could be taken over by anyone who would put it to productive use.
In 1834, John Batman claimed that he made an agreement with the Aboriginal people for 500,000 acres in the Port Philip district in exchange for money and other items

5. HISTORY (continued)
The Government of the time disallowed this on the basis that it owned the land and Batman, who was a private person, was not legally able to make such a deal
As settlement expanded, so did the need for agricultural land
Some Aboriginal people were willing to share the land and this led to some examples of co-existence.
This was not the norm however, and fights for land became common

6. TIME LINE 1963 The Bark Petition 1965 Freedom Ride
1966 Wave Hill Walk-off
1967 “Citizenship” referendum
1971 Aboriginal Tent Embassy
1971 Gove Land Rights Case
The Woodward Inquiry
1975 Gurindji Handback
1976 Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act
1982 Eddie Mabo took his case to the High Court of Australia
1992 Mabo dies of cancer
1993 The High Court found in favour of Mabo – The Native Title Act was passed
1995 Indigenous Land Corporation established
1996 Wik case
1999 Senate disallowance of NT Native Title laws

7. LAND RIGHTS MOVEMENT
In 1976 the Fraser Government passed a law that gave Aboriginal people some land rights - Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976
This did not mean that Aboriginals actually got (all) their land
The Law did not include States - only Territories

8. Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976
In Australian history, the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act established the basis upon which Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory could claim rights to land based on traditional occupation.
The Act was strongly based on the recommendations of Justice Woodward, who chaired the Aboriginal Land Rights Commission (The Woodward Royal Commission).
The Whitlam government first introduced a Bill to Parliament; however, this lapsed upon the dismissal of the government in 1975.
The conservative government, led by Malcolm Fraser, reintroduced a Bill, though not of the same content, and this was signed by the Governor-General of Australia on 16 December 1976.
The Act, the first of the Aboriginal Land Rights Acts, and was significant in that it allowed a claim of title if claimants could provide evidence of their traditional association with land.

9. Eddie Mabo & Native Title
In 1788, the British took the land from Australia's Indigenous People wrongfully and without Compensation
The false doctrine of 'terra nullius' perpetuated until the High Court, on 3rd June 1992, recognized that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people may still hold common law title or native title to land where it has not been lost by valid acts of government, or the loss of traditional connection with the land.
In 1993 the Australian Federal Government introduced legislation to established procedures for indigenous people who maintained that their traditional rights had not been extinguished. ‘The Native Title Act 1993’.
The most significant outcome of the Mabo High Court ruling, is that for the first time Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, it gave legal recognition to the fact that Indigenous land ownership existed in Australia before European settlement .

10. EDDIE “KOIKI” MABO Eddie Mabo was born on the Torres Strait
island of Mer in 1936
He was the 5th child of Robert and Poipe
Sambo
After his mother died, he was adopted by his uncle Benny Mabo and took his name
The British had renamed the island of Mer to Murray, but things related to the island and its people are called Meriam
He left home (Mer) at 16 and worked in northern Queensland
He inherited Mabo land but his ownership was disputed in the courts

11. MAP OF THE TORRES STRAIT
Murray Is.
MAP OF THE TORRES STRAIT

12. EDDIE “KOIKI” MABO (continued)
On 20th May, 1982 Mabo and other Murray Islanders took his land case to the High Court of Australia
He claimed that his people had been owners of their lands for at least 6,000 years
The case took 11 years
In 1993 the High Court decided that Mabo’s people did own their land on Murray Is.
Eddie had died of cancer in 1992.

13. SUMMARY OF THE MABO CASE
This landmark case finally recognised that Native Title did exist in Australia and that Indigenous people still had the right to make claims over their traditional lands.
Eddie Mabo had successfully proved that his people had a system of ownership and management of land which existed before the British arrived, and which still continues today.
While the court did find that the process of settlement of Australia had extinguished native title in many areas, it also finally overturned the myth that Australia was ‘terra nullius’.

14. SUMMARY OF THE MABO CASE (continued)
The Mabo case stimulated both increased awareness and support for Indigenous rights, and a backlash of fear as Australians began to consider what the case may mean.
The government chose to respond by establishing a national Native Title Act.
While many saw the Native Title Act as a positive move forward, as it established a way for Indigenous people to make land rights claims without going to court, the Native Title Act was very controversial and many amendments were made before conservative politicians would pass it into law.

15. The PASTORALISTS issue
The Australian economy depends on mining and cattle-raising.
This is all done on Aboriginal land
The problem of Aboriginal ownership, mining and cattle-raising remained.
The question was: Can mining and pastoral activity co exist on Aboriginal land?

16. The WIK decision of 1996
In 1996 the High Court decided that pastoral leases did not extinguish native title
The decision established the principle of co-existence
Aboriginal people could own their land and negotiate with commercial companies to use that land for the payment of a rent.

17. A summary of the importance of the Dreaming for the Land Rights Movement
Aboriginal Spirituality is founded on the principle that Indigenous people have an inextricable connection to the land – they are part of the land and the land is part of their being
Their Ancestor Spirits gave them rights, obligations and responsibilities – to care for the land and use it in the expression of their spirituality
Sacred places are critical for the ceremonial life
That land is home to – and provides the origin of – totems, sacred objects and the Ancestor Spirits
The declaration of Terra Nullius deprived the Aboriginal people of these principles
Mabo, Wik and the Native Title Act clarified the Government’s position in regard to land claims and – to some extent – restored the rights of Aboriginal People who had maintained continual contact with their land

18. THE LAND RIGHTS MOVEMENT – Essay writing task
In the long history of the Aboriginal People of Australia, no more important legislation than that associated with the Land Rights movement (i.e. Native Title, Mabo and Wik) has been passed by the Parliament.
Using your class resource booklet and the Internet, prepare in your own words an essay that…
Examines the issues (the history) leading up to - and causing - the “formation” of the Land Rights movement
Analyses the importance of - and the connection between - the Dreaming and the Land Rights movement (page 26)
Gives the dates of each court case and/or piece of legislation
Details the main players on both sides – and their roles
Describes the outcomes (effects) of each of these pieces of legislation
Lists the positive and negative issues affecting both the Aboriginal and white populations as a result of these pieces of legislation
Describes the current situation (20110
Class time available:- 2 lessons; due date: end of week 4.
Use footnotes to cite all your references. Use sophisticated language and don’t plagiarise.