03/06/2026
Happy Mabo Day 💚🤍💙🖤
Today we honour the legacy of Eddie Koiki Mabo, a proud Torres Strait Islander and a true champion for justice. His courage and determination helped overturn terra nullius and pave the way for the recognition of Native Title in Australia.
We remember his strength, his vision, and his unwavering connection to Country. His legacy lives on in the ongoing fight for land rights and justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Thank you, Eddie Mabo, we walk forward because of you.
Happy Mabo Day! 💚🤍💙🖤
Eddie Koiki Mabo will always be remembered as a true Australian hero, a fighter for justice and an extremely proud Torres Strait Islander. His contribution in defeating the lie that Australia was “Terra Nullius” or no-one’s land before the arrival of Captain Cook is one of the greatest contributions by any Australian, Indigenous or non-Indigenous.
Eddie knew that his people where the rightful owners of their Ancestral lands. While working in Townsville, Eddie was horrified to hear from a friend that the government claimed ownership all of the islands of the Torres Strait. He and his fellow plaintiffs set about proving that each family on Mer Island had clearly marked land boundaries and fish traps that had been passed on down through generation after generation which clearly demonstrated ownership.
While the struggles for land rights continues today, Eddie Mabo’s 10 year battle in the Federal court was a true David and Goliath battle in which right defeated might.
Sadly, on 21 January 1992, nearly ten years after beginning his legal claim in the High Court of Australia, Eddie Koiki Mabo passed away from cancer aged just fifty-six. He passed away without knowing the legacy that his hard work left behind.
34 years ago today, on June 3, 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’ or land belonging to no-one.
The following year the Parliament of Australia passed the Native Title Act to create a system for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to make native title claims over their lands.
Today, we join with all Australians to recognise Eddie Mabo’s fight for justice and to say thank you for his inspirational leadership, resilience and deep connection with his cultural heritage.
We all owe Eddie Koiki Mabo a huge debt of gratitude. Mabo's legacy will always live on...
