Indigenous Rights and Freedoms
History, Year 10
Research Essay
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights have been a huge issue over the
past 75 years. Many different changes to civil laws concerning indigenous rights have occurred during these 75 years, as well as many symbolic, but not legislative, changes. Although some small legal changes were made to the civil rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as a result of the Mabo decision, the 2008 Apology and the ‘Bringing them Home’ Report had a much more symbolic impact on society, regarding the way indigenous people were perceived. The Mabo vs. Queensland case is a widely celebrated event. Eddie Koiki Mabo was the face of the decade long (1982 …show more content…
My family has occupied the land here for hundreds of years before Captain Cook was born. They are now trying to say I cannot own it…We should stop calling them boss. We must be proud to live in our own palm leaf houses like our fathers before us.” Mabo said this to show the importance of the island to him, he talked about his ‘island name’ and how he is proud to be a Meriam person. This quote shows how much he wanted to gain his land back from the Queensland Government. The final decision was
“that the land in the Murray Islands is not Crown land…”. This was one of the three declarations made by Justice Brennan, one of the seven judges on the case. The judgments made on the Mabo vs. Queensland case were ones that only affected Meriam people (people who lived on Mer Island), not all
Indigenous Australians. This is shown by the claims to land made by the Yorta Yorta people, the Miriuwuny people and the Gajerrong people, all of which have been unsuccessful. The Yorta Yorta people have made a claim over land in the Murray River in Victoria and New South Wales, whereas the Miriuwuny and the Gajerrong people have both claimed entitlement over sections of …show more content…
The legislative impact, however, was much, much smaller, with change only brought to the liver of Meriam people, not all Indigenous
Australians.
The Apology for the Stolen Generations played a major role in reconciliation between White and Indigenous Australians. Though each state and territory had already formally apologised for the mistreatment and removal of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children the Federal government hadn’t apologised officially. But on the 13th February 2008, the Prime Minister gave an apology to the Stolen Generations over all Australia. “Today we honour the
Indigenous peoples of this land… We apologise especially for the removal of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country. To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry.
And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry...” . This was a part of the speech by the Prime
Minister, the first to perform his speech on the day. The nationally televised event had an apology from Kevin Rudd and the opposition leader, and