Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
In the 1970s there were widespread reports of police brutality against student demon-
strations at the University of Queensland, a well-known haven for anti-Bjelke-Petersen
sentiment. In 1977 street marches were banned.
Things took a turn in the late 1980s, when a series of investigations revealed that
Bjelke-Petersen presided over a compromised system. His police commissioner was jailed
for graft (bribery), and in 1991 Bjelke- Petersen faced his own criminal trial (for perjury;
allegations of corruption were also incorporated into the trial). Although the jury was
deadlocked and didn't return a verdict, the tides had turned against him, and most
Queenslanders were eager to put the Bjelke-Petersen days behind them.
TERRA NULLIUS TURNED ON ITS HEAD
In May 1982 Eddie Mabo led a group of Torres Strait Islanders in a court action to have traditional title to their
land on Mer (Murray Island) recognised. Their argument challenged the legal principle of
terra nullius
(literally
'land belonging to no one') and demonstrated their unbroken relationship with the land over a period of thou-
sands of years. In June 1992 the High Court of Australia found in favour of Eddie Mabo and the islanders, reject-
ing the principle of
terra nullius -
this became known as the Mabo decision. The result has had far-reaching im-
plications in Queensland and the rest of Australia, including the introduction of the Native Title Act in 1993.
Eddie Mabo accumulated more than 20 years' experience as an Indigenous leader and human-rights activist.
He had 10 children, was often unemployed, established a Black Community School - the first institution of its
kind in Australia - and was involved in Indigenous health and housing. In the late 1960s he worked as a gardener
at James Cook University, returning there in 1981 for a conference on land rights, where he delivered a historic
speech that culminated in the landmark court case.
Eddie Mabo died of cancer six months before the decision was announced. After a customary period of mourn-
ing he was given a king's burial ceremony on Mer, reflecting his status among his people - such a ritual had not
been performed on the island for some 80 years.
