June 3rd is Mabo Day, when we celebrate Eddy Koiko Mabo, the man who changed Australian history

• The Mabo Case was a significant legal case in Australia that recognised the land rights of the Meriam people, traditional owners of the Murray Islands (which include the islands of Mer, Dauer and Waier) in the Torres Strait.
• The Mabo Case was successful in overturning the myth that at the time of colonisation Australia was ‘terra nullius’ or land belonging to no one.
• The High Court recognised the fact that Indigenous peoples had lived in Australia for thousands of years and enjoyed rights to their land according to their own laws and customs. Twelve months later the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) was passed
• The five Meriam people who mounted the case were Eddie Koiki Mabo, Reverend David Passi, Sam Passi, James Rice and one Meriam women, Celuia Mapo Sale. Eddie Koiki Mabo was the first named plaintiff and the case became known as the Mabo Case.

A turning point in Koiki’s life happened while he was working on campus as a gardener at James Cook University. University historians Noel Loos and Henry Reynolds recall:

‘…we were having lunch one day when Koiki was just speaking about his land back on Mer, or Murray Island. Henry and I realised that in his mind he thought he owned that land, so we sort of glanced at each other, and then had the difficult responsibility of telling him that he didn’t own that land, and that it was Crown land. Koiki was surprised, shocked… he said and I remember him saying, ‘No way, it’s not theirs, it’s ours!’

On 20 May 1982, Eddy Koiki Mabo and fellow Mer Islanders, Reverend David Passi, Celuia Mapo Salee, Sam Passi and James Rice began their legal claim in the High Court of Australia for ownership of their lands on the island of Mer. With Eddy Koiki Mabo as the first named plaintiff, the case became known as the ‘Mabo Case’.

On 21 January 1992, nearly ten years after beginning their legal claim in the High Court of Australia, Eddie Koiki Mabo passed away from cancer aged fifty-six.

On 3 June 1992, the High Court of Australia decided in favour of Eddie Koiki Mabo and his fellow plaintiffs. The ruling on this landmark case recognised in Australian law for the first time the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to their lands based on their traditional connection to and occupation of their Country; a decision that countered the claim by the British that Australia was ‘terra nullius’ (land belonging to no-one).

The following year the Parliament of Australia passed the Native Title Act 1993 to create a system for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to make a native title claim over their lands.

Eddie Koiki Mabo has been rightfully recognised for his landmark work. Unfortunately this recognition only occurred after his death.

• 1992: awarded the Australian Human Rights Medal along with his fellow plaintiffs ‘in recognition of their long and determined battle to gain justice for their people’.
• 1993: voted as Australian of the Year 1992 by the Australian newspaper (not to be confused with the Australian Government’s Australian of the Year Awards).
• 2008: James Cook University library was named in his honour.
• 2012: the Australian Broadcasting Corporation aired Mabo: the movie, a documentary drama based on his life.
• Mabo day: Celebrated on 3 June each year to commemorate his courageous efforts to overturn the fiction of terra nullius.
• Mabo lecture: An annual lecture held as part of the AIATSIS National Native Title Conference.

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