Reflections on Mabo Day Media coverage : Melbourne Indymedia

Monday's front page picture - 'A Home Away From Rome And A Good Square Meal - The Age 4/6' depiction of Federation Square as a Roman Piazza, as Italians and Italians at heart come out to celebrate Italy's national day, highlights how little interest the fourth estate and Australians have in their own history.

On the 3rd of June 1992, the High Court of Australia acknowledged that Australia's indigenous people had rights to land in law because of their prior occupation of this land. Eddie Mabo - a Torres Strait Islander born on Mer in the Torres Strait, who lived most of his life in Townsville - led a successful decade long campaign through the courts in the 1980's that finally put to rest the ridiculous notion of Terra Nullius. The Mabo judgement marked a pivotal moment in Australian history that Paul Keating as Prime Minister, addressed in his historic Redfern speech.

Despite the Coalition government's attempts to derail the Mabo judgement through their parliamentary "bucket loads of extinguishment" approach to the High Court decision, MABO Day marks the beginning of a long journey towards reconciliation between indigenous and non indigenous Australians based on justice and equity, not charity and paternalism. In the continuing struggle to heal this festering sore, The Age's sins of omission are as significant as the Coalition government's sins of commission.

As one of those 800,000 Australians who claim Italian heritage, who has made Australia his home, MABO Day to me is a much more important and significant day than Italy's national day will ever be. It is a pity that so few Australians, except in the Torres Strait (where the Torres Strait Authority has declared a public holiday to mark the day) and Townsville - the home of Eddie Mabo, are aware of, let alone acknowledge this pivotal moment in Australian history.

Melbourne Public meeting – “From the heart, for the heartland”
Traditional owners speak out: NO radioactive waste dump in the NT!

Monday June 18: 6.30 – 8.30 pm.
Exhibition open for viewing from 6 pm.
Trades Hall, cnr Lygon and Victoria sts, Carlton South.

Indigenous traditional owners and community members from areas proposed for the Federal radioactive waste dump are undertaking a national speaking tour. Timed to coincide with the announcement of the Federal Government’s preferred dump site, this tour is an opportunity for national audiences to hear how the dump proposal is impacting the targeted communities in the Northern Territory.

Speakers will share their stories and experiences and raise concerns
related to contamination of the country that sustains their communities, livelihoods and traditional culture.

Speakers:
Mt Everard traditional owners Audrey McCormack and Benedict Stevens
Harts Range community members Priscilla Williams and Mitch
Muckaty traditional owner Dianne Stokes
Larrakia Nations’ representative Donna Jackson.

We are hosting a series of evening meetings, which will include an
exhibition of artworks from affected communities, photos of the proposed dump sites and a short film.

The speaking tour aims to confront and dispel the myth used to justify
nuclear activities in Australia; that remote areas are uninhabited and
lifeless places. Federal Science Minister Julie Bishop suggested that all
of the proposed waste dump sites are “far from any form of civilisation”
when in fact, there are communities living and running successful
enterprises three, five and eighteen kilometres away from the three areas currently being assessed.

This is a unique opportunity to hear first hand, the impact of the Federal radioactive waste dump proposal on remote and indigenous communities. With Australia poised to expand involvement in the global nuclear industry, this public forum will enable discussion of domestic radioactive waste management issues, social and environment concerns regarding the NT dump proposal and ways people interstate can engage with and support the NT community campaign.

Tour coordinator: Natalie Wasley, 0429 900 774, natwasley@alec.org.au
Melbourne contact: Michaela Stubbs, 0429 136 935, michaela.stubbs@foe.org.au

COMMENT:
leave uranium in the ground and bury the ALP with it !

Your Right Joe
by Terra Nullius no more Thursday June 07, 2007 at 08:06 PM

June the 3rd marks the anniversary of Mabo Day, a day that has important ramifications for Australian Society. Mabo Day is a day that is virtually unknown and ignored by most Australians.

On the third of June 1992 the High Court of Australia rejected the ridiculous notion of "Terra Nullius", that this land was not occupied before European colonisation. Eddie Mabo a Torres Strait man born on Mer in the Torres Strait and living in Townsville in Queensland conducted a ten year battle through the courts that led to this historic judgement. The Mabo Judgement states in law that indigenous Australians have by prior occupation, ownership of land where native title has not been extinguished.

June the 3rd, 1992 marks the beginning of a reconciliation process between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians that is based in law, not charity. It opened up a new chapter in the often difficult relationship between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.

The Mabo decision is arguable the most important decision that the High Court of Australia has made since Federation. It states Indigenous people have Legal Rights not just Symbolic Rights to all Crown Land in this country, as well as possible rights to pastoral leases. Mabo Day marked the beginning of a new era for Indigenous people. It changed Australian's views of themselves and their rights to this land. It has forced mining companies and the corporate world to take stock of Indigenous peoples' claims. It has radically altered the relationship between Indigenous and non Indigenous people in this country.

On the tenth anniversary, in 2002, Eddie Mabo's widow, Bonita Mabo, called for a national public holiday on the anniversary of the High Court's decision. Mrs Mabo said Eddie Mabo would be singing and dancing in delight over the progress made. "He would be dancing and singing - I can see him doing it," she said. "It's going to be a long time but at least we're starting to get somewhere which is great. Since '92 there was nothing like this around and you know people couldn't say, 'oh this is my land, this is my country, I'm a traditional owner', which makes them so proud of who they are." Mrs Mabo said a national holiday would be the most appropriate way of celebrating Mr Mabo's efforts. "You know we don't have to have the Queen's birthday weekend."

On the eleventh anniversary, in 2003, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) launched a petition to make June 3 an Australian Public Holiday. Eddie Mabo Jnr, for the Mabo family, said:

We believe that a public holiday would be fitting to honour and recognise the contribution to the High Court decision of not only my father and his co-plaintiffs, James Rice, Father Dave Passi, Sam Passi and Celuia Salee, but also to acknowledge all Indigenous Australians who have empowered and inspired each other.

To date we have not had a public holiday that acknowledges Indigenous people and which recognises our contribution, achievements and survival in Australia.

A public holiday would be a celebration all Australians can share in with pride – a celebration of truth that unites Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians and a celebration of justice that overturned the legal myth of terra nullius - Mabo symbolises truth and justice and is a cornerstone of Reconciliation.

Mabo Judgement
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/high_ct/175clr1.html

Thursday, 7 June 2007 1:21:18 PM

CANBERRA, June 7, 2007: Fifteen years after the High Court's Mabo decision Australian governments are actively and systematically opposing the recognition of native title, prominent Indigenous leader Mick Dodson says.

Prof Dodson, chairman of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, today used the annual Mabo Lecture at the Native Title Conference in Cairns to attack governments for their land rights policies.

Both at the federal level and state and territory level, governments have actively opposed the recognition of native title, especially in Western Australia and Queensland, Prof Dodson said.

"The most recent example is the great victory by the Noongar nation, where the WA government lawyers argued that the colonisers had wrought such devastation upon the Noongar people - through dispossession of lands, killings, the removal of children, introduced diseases, suppression of culture - from which they stated Noongars could not possibly have survived," Prof Dodson said.

The Federal Court last year upheld the Noongar people's native title claim over more than 6,000 square kilometres of Perth and its surrounds, but the WA and federal governments have appealed, claiming the ruling was inconsistent with previous decisions.

Prof Dodson said the WA government, with encouragement from the commonwealth, has tried "every dirty trick" to oppose the recognition of native title in the south west of WA.

"This is not just political opposition for the sake of securing the redneck voters," he said.

"It is structural and systematic opposition by governments at all levels to the recognition of native title."

Prof Dodson said the need for Indigenous people to assert their rights to self-determination was paramount.

He said he was heartened and impressed by the actions of the Alice Springs' town camp Aboriginal people, who last month decided against handing control of their housing to the NT government in return for $60 million in commonwealth funds.

Prof Dodson said the offer was a blatant attempt to privatise more communal land and leverage wealth from traditional owners.

Prof Dodson urged governments to "get out of the way" and let Indigenous people make their own decisions. -AAP