From left: Dave Passi, Eddie Mabo, barrister Bryan Keon-Cohen and James Rice outside the Queensland Supreme Court, 1989
In May 1982 a group of Meriam people from the Eastern Torres Strait including David Passi, Sam Passi, Celuia Mapo Salee and James Rice, led by Eddie Koiki Mabo, lodged a case with the High Court of Australia for legal ownership of the island of Mer. This became a 10-year legal battle.
On 3 June 1992, six of the seven High Court of Australia judges agreed that the Meriam people held traditional ownership of the lands of Mer. This has become known as the ‘Mabo decision’.
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Courtesy of Yarra Bank Films, photo by Jim McEwan
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