Native Title , Mabo and Wik

1. Native Title , Mabo and Wik

2. Land Rights and Native Title • In 1976 the Fraser Government passed laws to give Aboriginals land rights. • This did not mean that Aboriginals got their land • The Law did not include States only Territories

3. Terra Nullius – No one’s 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 TERRA NULLIUS • The Aboriginal people were completely ignored. • Terra Nullius was the reason Justice Blackburn denied the Yolngu claim in 1971

4. Eddie Mabo • Eddie Mabo was a Murray ( Torres Strait) Islander – • In 1982 Mabo took his land case to court. • He claimed that his people had been owners of their lands for at least 6000 years • The case took 11 years • In 1993 the High Court decided that Mabo’s people did own their land • Eddie had died in 1992.

5. No more Terra Nullius • Eddie Mabo died before the decision but his people now owned their land • Terra Nullius had been abolished • Native title is now available all over Australia

6. Mining and Pastoralists • The Yolngu people began their land struggle against a mining company (Nabalco 1963) • The Gurindgi people began their struggle against a pastoral (meat) company (Vesteys in 1966)

7. Money,Money,Money • 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?

8. The WIK decision 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.