Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Prime Minister, Mr Turnbull, I table ministerial statements on national security, on the 50th anniversary of the 1967 referendum and on the 25th anniversary of the Mabo High Court decision.

I would like to start by paying my respects to the Ngunawal people, the traditional owners of the land on which we meet. I also would like to acknowledge their elders, past and present. Today I rise on behalf of the government in this place to speak about National Reconciliation Week and the two anniversaries that were marked during this year's celebrations. National Reconciliation Week this year marked the 50th anniversary of the 1967 referendum and the 25th anniversary of the Mabo decision: two important events in the history of Indigenous Australia, but also in the story of our nation. These are stories of great change for our nation, but, just as importantly, they are stories of great Australians, and it is fitting that the parliament both here today and a couple of weeks ago pause and acknowledge their story and their contribution to the nation.

The Prime Minister in that other place spoke about the importance of these anniversaries that stand as highly significant chapters of our nation's recent history. The first was the 50th anniversary of the 1967 referendum. On 27 May 1967, Australians walked together and voted for change in a referendum that received unprecedented support, enabling the Commonwealth to enact laws relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and our first Australians to be counted along with other Australians.

The second was the 25th anniversary of the Mabo High Court decision, where on 3 June 1992 Australia for the first time rejected the notion of terra nullius—that is, land belonging to no-one. This High Court decision was the successful conclusion to years of fighting headed up by Eddie Koiki Mabo and his fellow plaintiffs for what was always known by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: that the land and sea belonged to them and that they belonged to the land and the sea.

The Prime Minister's statement acknowledged the two anniversaries and thanked those outstanding leaders involved for their enduring spirit and for striving for change that bettered the nation. It was a great privilege that at that statement surviving campaigners of the 1967 referendum, plaintiffs to the Mabo High Court decision and their families filled the floors and the seats in the galleries in that other place.

I was fortunate to meet campaigners and plaintiffs at a luncheon I had the honour of hosting at Old Parliament House. I was there with my friend and colleague Senator Dodson, and we spoke and recognised the contribution of these leaders. To be in the room with so many inspiring and determined individuals, each with a story of struggle and success, should be taught in every school to every student. At this event we also launched the commemorative Australia Post stamp as well as the 50c coin that was beautifully designed by the granddaughter of Eddie Koiki Mabo, Boneta-Marie Mabo. These stamps and coins now circulate around the nation, building awareness of these historic events. I could not be more pleased to know that Australia Post procured the work of the talented Indigenous designer Rachael Sarra of Indigenous creative agency Gilimbaa in the creation of its anniversary postage stamp.

As these postage stamps and coins fall into the hands of younger generations, so does Australia's future. It is with this eye to the future that the Prime Minister proudly announced in his statement of the government's support for the next generation of Indigenous leaders, with a $138 million Indigenous education package to be matched with philanthropic support. The government is supporting Indigenous students to stand as our nation's leaders for the next 50 years. This education package will provide mentoring and scholarships and build Australia's future professionals in key fields, including our STEM workforce. This includes organisations such as Role Models & Leaders Australia, the Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience, the Stronger Smarter Institute, the Stars Foundation, Madalah Ltd and the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation, amongst others. These organisations are delivering outcomes and through this package will deliver the highest-calibre Indigenous leaders to take our country's next steps.

The stories of the 1967 campaigners and Mabo decision plaintiffs inform our nation's future. With history in mind and an eye to our future, we remember those who fought so hard and we celebrate the future that their efforts have provided.

The government has supported local grassroots activities honouring the 50th anniversary of the 1967 referendum and the 25th anniversary of the Mabo decision through a grants round open to all local councils to work in partnership with local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations and tailor community activities. Many of these community events are featured in local newspapers right across Australia. Grants of $5,000 help communities across the country come together and walk together in memory of these anniversaries and in unison towards reconciliation.

On 25 May this year I was very pleased to join with the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, along with thousands of our fellow citizens, on the Long Walk to the 'G that brings Australians together on a walk for reconciliation ahead of the AFL's Dreamtime at the 'G Indigenous round match.

On 3 June it was again my pleasure to join with the families of Eddie Koiki Mabo and of plaintiffs Father Dave Passi, Sam Passi, James Rice and Ms Salee in the celebrations that took place on Mer Island. You could feel the pride of the community honouring its elders. The coalition government was pleased to unveil its support for gravesite restoration of Mr Eddie Koiki Mabo, with restoration work for the gravesites of other plaintiffs to follow shortly.

On this same day, Mabo Day, the Townsville and Brisbane communities celebrated together in two festivals raising further awareness about the significance of the efforts of the Mabo plaintiffs. The government was pleased to support these anniversary celebrations.

The nation sat up and noticed the celebrations that were happening across Australia, as well as people like Dulcie Flower and Dr Barrie Pittock, who dedicated their lives to these challenges and used whatever resources they had to fight for what was right. The 1967 referendum's overwhelming 'yes' vote is a testament to the hard work of these individuals involved.

The Native Title Act was a major step in recasting the relationship between Indigenous and other Australians, recognising past injustices and setting the scene for a more equitable future. Since then, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's rights and interests in land has been formally recognised for about 40 per cent of Australia's land mass. As Koiki Mabo said, 'What is on the land and in the sea belongs to me and my people.' But the struggle for the recognition of sea country has been just as hard as the original battle for native title. Sea country should be treated the same as land country. The opportunities to manage and economically benefit from your rights over water must now be a priority. That is why the coalition government announced at this year's National Native Title Conference that we are investing in $20 million to support Indigenous people to make use of their rights to sea country.

Today, the nation celebrates its shared history and looks to a future of reconciliation and respect. The Prime Minister said it best when he eloquently stated in the statement I am tabling here today:

For time out of mind, for more than 50,000 years, your people and your culture have shaped and been shaped by, cared for and been cared by, defined and been defined by this land, our land, Australia.

Your culture, our culture, is old and new, as dynamic as it is connected—on the highest tree top the new flower of the morning draws its being from deep and ancient roots.

Now it is up to us, together and united, to draw from the wisdom and the example of those we honour today and, so inspired, bring new heights and brighter blooms to that tree of reconciliation which protects and enriches us all.

I am pleased today to table the Prime Minister's speech honouring the campaigners of the 1967 referendum and plaintiffs of the Mabo High Court decision. We acknowledge these anniversaries and the contributions of those involved and continue to commit our efforts to deliver better outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

Patrick Dodson (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the documents.

I would like to acknowledge the Ngunawal and Ngambri peoples on whose lands we are gathered. I thank the minister for his statement. On 24 May this year the minister invited me, as he said, to attend an event to commemorate these significant anniversaries and to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1967 referendum and the 25th anniversary of the Mabo decision with the original campaigners of the 1967 referendum and the Mabo decision plaintiffs and their families. It was indeed a grand occasion.

Today I acknowledge the minister's statement on the 50th anniversary of the 1967 referendum and the 25th anniversary of the Mabo High Court decision. Without any doubt, these events are high points in the recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's prior and ongoing positions in our national culture, society and laws. In particular, the 1967 referendum eliminated one form of lingering racism in our Constitution, allowing Indigenous peoples to be counted in the census and allowing this place to make laws for Indigenous peoples.

I also want to highlight some of the other major turning points that have pointed to a new way forward along the road to reconciliation, such as the return of land to the Gurindji in 1972, the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 and the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation Act 1991. Many of these highlights were bipartisan in their creation, and we strived for a bipartisan and cross-party response in future efforts to change our Constitution, to make it more consistent with our national values and to remove the lingering racism legacy in the Constitution of the past.

But it is the story of Eddie Koiki Mabo that I want to focus on today. Inside the colony of Queensland, in its maritime boundaries, in the Torres Strait, between Papua New Guinea and Australia is the Murray Islands, the largest of which is Murray Island or Mer. In 1982, Eddie Koiki Mabo and four other Murray Islanders commenced proceedings against the state of Queensland. They claimed occupation of parcels of land on Mer as holders of native title under their own customary laws. This litigation transformed the modern Australian common law. In the parliament the foundation documents of Australia's laws and societies are on display. School children can see Eddie Mabo's handwritten documents showing the shape of the island of Mer, and noting the family names associated with tracts of land, including his own family name and their connection to the country. His map sits alongside the Yirrkala bark petition, the Barunga statement and Kevin Rudd's apology. These important documents testify to the ongoing challenge of defining and resolving the fact of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prior ownership of lands that we now call Australia. They call for all of us to recognise and understand the facts of the occupation of Australia.

First peoples were in this land as owners of their respective countries before and when the settlers arrived and gradually spread out and occupied the territory of Australia. It was, and is not, terra nullius. According to the Chief Justice of Australia who heard the Mabo case, Sir Gerard Brennan;

… the common law of Australia rejects the notion that, when the Crown acquired sovereignty over territory which is now part of Australia it thereby acquired the absolute beneficial ownership of the land therein, and accepts that the antecedent rights and interests in land possessed by the indigenous inhabitants of the territory survived the change in sovereignty. Those antecedent rights and interests thus constitute a burden on the radical title of the Crown.

With the rejection of the notion of terra nullius, native title was held to survive the acquisition of sovereignty. It was a poignant tragedy that Koiki Mabo did not live long enough to enjoy the recognition of what he knew in his heart and his mind to be the truth. The legacy of this man's effort is a great legacy, a positive landmark moment on the road to national reconciliation. Putting these signposts in place was not an action of any one political party but of the nation as a whole through our parliament.

The Mabo decision led to an eruption of controversy and alarm. The then opposition, now the government, was a bitter opponent. After much vicious public debate in 1993, the Commonwealth parliament under the Labor government of Paul Keating enacted the Native Title Act, which built on the common law as defined in the Mabo case. It was challenged in the High Court by the Western Australian parliament. The High Court upheld the validity of the Native Title Act and found Western Australian law to be invalid.

Another milestone on the road took place in 1996 with the decision of the High Court in the Wik case, which found that native title and pastoral leases could coexist. The 1996 amendments to the Native Title Act, in the words of the then Deputy Prime Minister Mr Fisher, 'delivered bucketloads of extinguishment', but they also delivered opportunity for Aboriginal people to make agreements. Far too often, however, the price for that opportunity has been too highly paid in my view, leading to the extinguishment of native title forever and a day.

In the Senate this week, the validation of these Indigenous land use agreements has been under debate and will continue to be. At every step the Labor Party has pushed for consultation on these bills: through a Senate committee, through submissions and through consultation with representatives of the native title representative bodies. At every step we have remembered the legacy of Koiki Mabo and understand the fact that native title rights, now recognised in the common law and federal legislation, should not be changed, extinguished or modified at the whim of government. Native title rights exist not as a gift of the parliament or as an act of largesse by the government of the day but as an ongoing right, with deep roots into our national past, our shared history and our common and optimistic future.

Finally, I wish to extend on behalf of the Australian Labor Party our sincere thanks to all those campaigners in 1967 for their tireless effort to change the mind of a nation. We are grateful and a better nation as a consequence of their hard work and their sacrifices. It was one of the few referendums that were successful out of the 44. In the same tone we extend our thanks and appreciation to the families and descendants of those who had worked tirelessly with Koiki Mabo to give reality to his lifelong dream: native title. The people of Mer and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across Australia are truly indebted to your efforts.

Question agreed to.