“Eddie Koiki Mabo’s legacy for the nation, and especially for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, is extraordinary” (Loos and Mabo, 2013 p. xxi). This essay will explore the life of Eddie Mabo and the Mabo case as well as discussing the affect his life has had on Australia as an inclusive nation today. The life of Eddie Mabo was more than most. He paved the way for Indigenous Australians in relation to equality and land rights. He is responsible for the abolishment of Terra Nullius and for the implementation of Native Title through the High Court of Australia, thus changing the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders forever. Despite the many hardships he faced throughout his life, Mabo was never discouraged from achieving what he believed to be right, irrelevant of how hard or how long it would take.
When Captain James Cook …show more content…
However, whilst this process was occurring the Queensland State Parliament passed the Queensland Coast Island Declaratory Act 1985. This act declared “Any rights that Torres Strait Islanders had to and after the claim of sovereignty (by Queensland) in 1987 is hereby extinguished without compensation”. The Mabo case was therefore unable to continue until the new act was abolished. In order for this to occur, the Act had to be challenged in the High Court as it was by Mabo’s team. It was found that the decision was in conflict with the Commonwealth Racial Decimation Act of 1975 and was therefore unenforceable and the Mabo case was able to continue. Furthermore, in 1989 Eddie’s claims of inheritance of the land were questioned due to a Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland investigating his adoption in relation to Torres Strait Island customs. Eddies claims to Mer Island were then denied. Despite this set back, the fight to remove Terra Nullius