"Keep the Faith" - Gail Mabo, 25 years on from her father's landmark court win

On the 25th Anniversary of the Mabo decision Koiki Mabo's daughter Gail tells SBS Living Black, "We as Indigenous people have to fight harder, we have to fight longer, but it's how we chose to do that and how we chose to move on doing that. But I say to all those who are fighting: keep the faith. Because it's within them that they are fighting their own Mabo battle."

Eddie Koiki Mabo's daughter Gail Mabo in conversation to mark the 25th anniversary of the Mabo decision Source: NITV

On June 3rd 1992 The Findings of Mabo 2 vs QLD secured the the first Native Title case in the history Australia.

Eddie Koiki Mabo, Sam Passi, David Passi, Celuia Mapo Sale and James Rice won the first Native Title ownership, thereby proving that the notion of 'Terra Nullius' was void. The grounds of the case were that their people -  the Meriam Mer First Nations  - on Murray Island in the Torres Straits, were the traditional owners of their land, and that it could therefore not be considered unoccupied land prior to European arrival. 

Commemorating 25 years since the Anniversary of the High Court decision of the Mabo Case was handed down, Koiki Mabo's daughter Gail says each year it still feels like yesterday that her Father was here and then gone. As time goes on, she says it doesn't soften that fact that he's not with them. She says every year it feels the same. 

"We wish he was here," says Gail. "It's one of my sad occasions because he won without actually being here to reap the benefits."

"It's one of my sad occasions because he won without actually being here to reap the benefits."

Eddie Mabo with his legal team. Source: SBS

Mabo 2 vs QLD overturned the notion of Terra Nullius but determined the Commonwealth to be Statutory law. More recently,  the latest developments made in reference to the decisions made with the "Uluru Statement from the Heart" and the recent First Nations Convention and dialogues on a referendum on Constitutional Recognition.

"It's not just you standing in that room, you have your community, you have your Ancestors there with you."

Gail Mabo says the delegates from the convention have a big responsibility. "For those out there and having their say," she says. "As long as they're actually understanding that where they're coming from is for the good of all, not to feather our own nests."

"A lot of people can stand and say they are the ones who have been hand-selected by their community to step forward," Gail explains. "But are they really taking their community into consideration when they are making those decisions?"

"That's what it comes down to -  it's not just you standing in that room, you have your community, you have your Ancestors there with you."