Law Reform- Native title

Question 1

Terra Nullius

Answer 1

Land belonging to no one

Question 2

Impacts of Terra Nullius

Answer 2

loss of land, loss of culture and dispersal has led to considerable social
problems, killed, died from intro diseases, forcibly relocated.

Question 3

Treatment of Aboriginal people

Answer 3

Criminal laws didn’t protect them
- Gov policies tended to condone violence
- Brutally attacked and massacres.
- Excluded from census
- No fed laws governing the welfare of them
- 1967 referendum was a public symbol for the recognition of them
- Right to vote
- Constitution amended, e.g. S127 deleted, counted in census and were a fed issue, not individual
issue

Question 4

Eddie Mabo

Answer 4

• Challenged the Queensland gov in 2 cases in the High Court of Aus:
• ‘Mabo v Queensland [1988] HCA 69’ - This case questioned validity of a state law that
  attempted to abolish native title by asserting state ownership of the islands off the coast of
  Queensland.
• ‘Mabo v Queensland [No. 2] [1992] HCA 23’ - Concerned the Meriam people’s rights to occupy
  and control Murray Island. Ruled that Aus wasn’t Terra Nullius.
• These cases introduced the legal doctrine of native titles into Aus law. Sig changed the legal status of them in relation to native title and gave some people access to parcels of land throughout Australia to practise their traditional way of life.