The Latest Breaking News from Eddie Mabo

The polls had been favourable until a brutal press campaign kicked in against this kindly, long-overdue change, says novelist Thomas Keneally

Indigenous people’s 60,000 years of connection to their country should be recognised, leaders say.

The Mabo decision in 1992 was a turning point for Australia. It finally overturned the dishonest doctrine of terra nullius and recognised Indigenous land rights. It was a moment of hope, accompanied by a productive tension.

Eddie Mabo was a Meriam man, educator and campaigner for land rights. Now famously known as the Mabo Case, Mabo and other community members won their action against federal and state governments to claim native title to the Murray Islands. Unfortunately, Mabo passed away before seeing this final verdict.

Kaleb Mabo was always curious about the home his grandfather Eddie "Koiki" Mabo fought so hard to protect, but it was on a return visit three years ago that he was inspired to act.

As a young reporter, I saw a listing for a case at the High Court of Australia. Few Australians then knew the name Eddie Mabo but I sensed this case may change Australia, says Stan Grant in this extract from his 2022 Mabo Lecture.

Tranby is an Indigenous adult education school in the inner-city Sydney suburb of Glebe. Founded in 1957, its graduates include Eddie Mabo, who went on to win the most significant land rights legal battle in Australian history – overturning the fiction of terra nullius.

Today marks 30 years since the Mabo decision was handed down in the High Court, overturning the concept of terra nullius, which claimed Australia was owned by no-one prior to white settlement.

Here's your TL;DR for this morning's news.