Australian
1992: High Court Decision in the Mabo Case
This year marks the 29th anniversary of the Mabo Decision where six out of seven High Court judges agreed that the Meriam people held traditional ownership of the lands of Mer in the Torres Strait. Eddie Koiki Mabo successfully argued that his family’s ancestral land was not owned by the Crown. This landmark decision in the High Court of Australia overturned ‘terra nullius’, an understanding that Australia was empty land belonging to no one before British occupation.
2004: Queensland Bishops issue ‘Let the Many Coastlands be glad!’ Pastoral Letter on the Great Barrier Reef
"The Holy Spirit is clearly guiding us into a deeper sense ofcompanionship and care in regard to all the varied forms of life onplanet Earth. Not only is the Reef a precious ecosystem in itself, but alsoan integral part of the one web of planetary life that connects us all –the human species and all… Read More »2004: Queensland Bishops issue ‘Let the Many Coastlands be glad!’ Pastoral Letter on the Great Barrier Reef
1838: Myall Creek Massacre, NSW
The Myall Creek Massacre was just one example of the widespread culture of frontier violence against Aboriginal people in New South Wales in the 1830’s. Muswellbrook police magistrate Edward Denny Day described this ongoing conflict as ‘a war of extermination’ by some stockmen, settlers, and convicts.
1988: Barunga Statement presented by Aboriginal leaders to Prime Minister Bob Hawke
The presentation of the Barunga Statement to Prime Minister Bob Hawke was an important moment in the movement for a treaty. Learn more about how the Statement came to be presented at the Barunga Festival here.