Record created based on ISAAR(CPF) 2nd ed Example 5 - Person description
Edward Koiki Mabo was born in 1936 on the island of Mer, one of the Murray Islands, which are located at the eastern extremity of Torres Strait. In June 1992, six months after his death, Mabo achieved national prominence as the successful principal plaintiff in the landmark High Court ruling on native land title. The High Court ruling, for the first time, gave legal recognition to the fact that indigenous land ownership existed in Australia before European settlement and that, in some cases, this land tenure was not subsequently extinguished by the Crown.
Spouse
Secretary
Mabo resigned from the League because of the involvement of people he considered to be insincere "do-gooders". He then established the all-black Council for the Rights of Indigenous People.
Director Mabo was Director of this School, the first of its kind established in Australia, throughout the ten years of its existence. The School, which was an independent school funded by the Commonwealth, was forced to close in 1983 because the lease on its site had expired and the School was unable to secure another site.
Employee Gardener-Groundsman
Student
Mabo enrolled in a Diploma of Teaching course at Townsville College of Advance Education in 1981. In 1982, the College of Advanced Education amalgamated with the James Cook University of North Queensland. Mabo eventually decided not to become a teacher because he felt he was unsuited to classroom situations.
Established in 1970 as a break away from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advancement League, this all-black Council established a legal aid service, a medical service and the Black Community School in Townsville.
The Yumba Meta Housing Association acquired houses in Townsville using Commonwealth funds and was responsible for renting them to black tenants. Mabo was President of the Association, 1975-80. During the period 1978-80, Mabo’s presidency was contested by a group of disaffected members and evicted tenants who formed a new Board of Directors.
Committee member
The National Aboriginal Education Committee was set up to provide advice to the Minister of Education and the Department of Education on Aboriginal views on the educational needs of Aboriginal people, and to monitor existing policies and programs. Mabo became involved in this Committee through his work for the Black Community School, and was a Committee member between 1975 and 1978.
Employee
Assistant Vocational Officer
Director
The ABIS Community Cooperative Society was a Townsville-based Aboriginal and Islander cooperative housing association.
Employee
Assistant Director, Aboriginal Arts
During 1986-87, Mabo participated in the Communication and Arts Management Scheme run by the Aboriginal Training and Cultural Institute. Through this Scheme he was appointed Assistant Director, Aboriginal Arts, Melbourne Moomba Festival. Mabo claimed that his efforts ensured the first-ever Aboriginal involvement in the Moomba Festival.
Liaison Officer
The 5th Festival of Pacific Arts, which took place in Townsville in 1988, was the first to be held in Australia. The Festival of Pacific Arts occurs every four years and is organised under the auspices of the South Pacific Commission. The 1988 Festival received funding from the Australian Government through the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Environment. Mabo was employed by the Department of Aboriginal Affairs as Community Arts Liaison Officer for the Festival, 1987-88.
Employee
Liaison Officer, 5th Festival of Pacific Arts, Townsville, Qld
Vice-Chairman
Magani Malu Kes is the name for the Torres Strait Islands in the language of the Torres Strait. The organisation Magani Malu Kes was an organisation for Torres Strait Islanders, which Mabo had incorporated as a public company in 1987. Of major concern to Magani Malu Kes was the way in which Islander interests appeared to be marginalised by those of mainland Aborigines when indigenous issues were considered by governments. As a consequence, Magani Malu Kes advocated Torres Strait Islander independence from Australia.
Plaintiff
In 1981, at a conference on indigenous land rights in Townsville, a decision was made to pursue a native land title claim for the people of the Murray Islands in the High Court of Australia. In 1982, Mabo and four other Islander plaintiffs instituted proceedings against the State of Queensland, claiming that their islands had been continuously inhabited and exclusively possessed by their people who lived in permanent settled communities. They acknowledged that the British Crown became sovereign of the islands upon annexation, but claimed continuous enjoyment of their land rights which had not been validly extinguished by the sovereign through the granting of freehold title or land leases to others. The Queensland Government attempted to defeat the claim with the passage of the Queensland Coast Islands Declaratory Act 1985. In 1988, the High Court ruled this Act contrary to the Commonwealth Racial Discrimination Act 1975. In May 1989, the High Court remitted the land claim to the Queensland Supreme Court for hearing and determination of all issues of fact. In November 1990, Justice Moynihan of the Supreme Court delivered the Court’s determination of the issues of fact. The case was argued for four days before the High Court in May 1991. The final decision was handed down in favour of Mabo on 3 June 1992. This decision overturned the 204-year-old legal doctrine of terra nullius, which held that the lands of the Australian continent were ’practically unoccupied’ at the time of the proclamation of British sovereignty.
During the late 1980s Mabo attempted to gain election to the Murray Island [Mer] Community Council. However, because he had not lived on Mer since the late 1950s, his residential status was questioned and it was ruled that he was not eligible to nominate.
Located in Canberra, the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies (later the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies) promotes and supports research into the cultures (both traditional and contemporary), languages, histories, and contemporary needs of Australia’s indigenous communities. Mabo first became associated with the Institute in 1978 when, as Director of the Black Community School, he was appointed to its Education Advisory Committee.