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Mabo Day is celebrated on June 3, the date that the High Court of Australia made the Mabo Decision. This holiday is one of great significance in Australia, particularly among the Torres Strait Islander people. Mabo Day is named after Eddie Mabo, the activist who led efforts to reform rights for Indigenous Australians. Mabo Day celebrates their unique connection to the land and the legal claims that led to the Australian parliament passing the Native Title Act. Though Mabo passed away before learning the decision of his case, the results of his campaign are still celebrated by Australians today.
HISTORY OF MABO DAY
On May 20, 1982, a group of Meriam plaintiffs led by Eddie Marbo filed a legal claim for ownership of Murray Island in Australia. This was the beginning of a movement that would go on to change land ownership laws in Australia, restoring the rights of Indigenous peoples and righting wrongs committed centuries ago by the British Crown. In the end, on June 3, 1992, the High Court of Australia passed a judgment in favor of the Meriam people — a judgment that came to be known as the ‘Mabo Decision’.
The Mabo Decision overturned centuries-old colonial laws, which stated that all land belonged to the Crown because the Indigenous people did not use it “in a manner that indicates possession”. This was patently untrue of course, for Indigenous Australians had been fishing, farming, and occupying these lands for tens of thousands of years before the arrival of the British. They had their customs and laws dictating land ownership and use.
Thanks to Mabo’s spirited initiative, the Australian parliament would go on to pass the Native Title Act in 1993, a framework that incorporates the culture and customs of Indigenous people when it comes to land claims.