Struggle for Recognition of Land Rights
Once the English settle on Australia, they stole more and more of the Aboriginal peoples' land, ignoring the land rights and the Indigenous people. Gradually, the government started claiming more and more land, either keeping it, leasing it, selling it, or giving it away.
From the mid 1960s, the Aboriginals started to slowly increase the pressure on governments to recognise their land rights. In 1966, 200 Gurindji people walked away from their low wages and poor conditions on the Northern Territory's Wave Hill cattle station.
They set up camp on their lands at Wattie Creek and from then, a nine-year struggle for control of their traditional lands began.
In 1968, the Yirrkala people began a case in the NT Supreme Court, protesting against the state government's decision to allow mining on their traditional land. On 26 January 1972, four Aboriginal activists set up an Aboriginal embassy in a tent on the lawns of Parliament House in Canberra.The attitude towards the land rights of Aboriginals has been heard however still ignored. Earlier that day, Prime Minister William McMahon announce that land rights would threaten the possession of everyAustralian and that his government would not grant land rights towards Aboriginals unless they found it 'worthwhile' for economic or social purposes. It was also said that mining would be allowed on the Aboriginals reserves.
Once the English settle on Australia, they stole more and more of the Aboriginal peoples' land, ignoring the land rights and the Indigenous people. Gradually, the government started claiming more and more land, either keeping it, leasing it, selling it, or giving it away.
From the mid 1960s, the Aboriginals started to slowly increase the pressure on governments to recognise their land rights. In 1966, 200 Gurindji people walked away from their low wages and poor conditions on the Northern Territory's Wave Hill cattle station.
They set up camp on their lands at Wattie Creek and from then, a nine-year struggle for control of their traditional lands began.
In 1968, the Yirrkala people began a case in the NT Supreme Court, protesting against the state government's decision to allow mining on their traditional land. On 26 January 1972, four Aboriginal activists set up an Aboriginal embassy in a tent on the lawns of Parliament House in Canberra.The attitude towards the land rights of Aboriginals has been heard however still ignored. Earlier that day, Prime Minister William McMahon announce that land rights would threaten the possession of everyAustralian and that his government would not grant land rights towards Aboriginals unless they found it 'worthwhile' for economic or social purposes. It was also said that mining would be allowed on the Aboriginals reserves.
Government Responses
Slowly, the Aboriginal initiatives began to achieve some results. In 1975, laws such as the 'Racial Discrimination Act' was made and a policy of a groups right to choose and control its own destiny and development was also created. The Aboriginal Land Rights Act (Northern Territory), made in 1976 also allowed Aboriginal people to claim land and reserves in the NT on the basis of traditional ownership. They could claim land that 'no other person or government has any use for'. Mining was also refused on Aboriginal land unless it was in the national interest. When the Northern Territory gained its own government, it extended the boundaries of Darwin and 3 other towns in order to limit Aboriginal's land claims. In 1985, these boundary changes were overruled. |
The Mabo Decision, 1992
From 1982, Eddie Koiki Mabo (1936-92) let a court case challenging the government's right to suddenly start denying some of the land rights in Queensland. He wanted legal recognition of their native title rights over their land. After losing their case in Queensland Supreme Court, they appealed to the High Court of Australia. On the 3rd of June 1992, The High Court made a historic decision deciding that: - Aboriginal and Torre Strait Islanders were the original owners of Australia - Some of these people might still native title to traditional lands - For the native title to continue to exist, Indigenous families and their descendants would've had to live continuously on the land since 1788 and continued to follow traditional customs. The Mabo decision meant that the High Court recognised that the Aboriginals existed and that they had owned the land way before the English settled in Australia. This was a turning point for everything and for the Indigenous people. |
Sources
-Retroactive 10 Australian Curriculum for History book by Maureen Anderson, Ian Keese, Anne Low and Brian Hoepper
-Retroactive 10 Australian Curriculum for History book by Maureen Anderson, Ian Keese, Anne Low and Brian Hoepper