Mabo

Eddie Koiki Mabo, was a [|Torres Strait Islander] who is known for his role in campaigning for Indigenous [|land rights] and for his role in a landmark decision of the [|High Court of Australia] that overturned the [|legal fiction] of //[|terra nullius]// which characterised Australian law with regards to land and title. [|http://en.wikip][|edia.org/wiki/Eddie_Mab][|o]

University Mabo worked on a number of jobs before becoming a gardener with [|James Cook University] in [|Townsville], Queensland at the age of 31. The time he spent on the campus had a massive impact on his life. In 1974 this culminated in a discussion he had with Professor Noel Loos and [|Henry Reynolds], who recalled Mabo's reaction: > ...we were having lunch one day in Reynold's office 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 and even...he said and I remember him saying 'No way, it's not theirs, it's ours'.[|[][|4][|]] > > []