Australian parliamentarians have used Question Time to offer their heartfelt sympathy to the family of the late Bonita Mabo.
The Indigenous activist died peacefully, surrounded by her family yesterday.
She was 75.
Last week she received an honorary doctorate from James Cook University, recognising 45 years of advocacy for Indigenous Australians and Australian South Sea Islanders.
She co-founded the Black Community School in Townsville, the country's first Indigenous community school, and also served 10 years on the Central Queensland Land Council.
Fighting alongside her husband Eddie 'Koiki' Mabo, she continued advocacy for Indigenous land rights and the progress towards reconciliation.
Source: Supplied
'Generous open heart'
Prime Minister Scott Morrison opened parliamentary Question Time with an acknowledgment of the passing of "a remarkable woman, who possessed a deep, quiet strength".
Mr Morrison said her achievements as a teacher and mother of 10 children should not be overlooked.
"Bonita was often quiet, and somewhat unassuming," he said.
MPs hold a moment of silence in memory of Bonita Mabo. Source: SBS
"But she was no less effective, no less powerful. Her strength was drawn from her history, her family. And her deep sense of justice. Bonita's wisdom and her generous open heart will be missed."
"I offer the heartfelt sympathy of this parliament and our nation."
Bonita Mabo receives one of James Cook University’s highest awards, an Honorary Doctor of Letters. Source: Mikaela Smith/IERC/James Cook University
'A true matriarch'
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten also delivered a tribute of Dr Mabo as a "tireless champion for education" but also as an advocate for Australian South Sea Islander culture.
"This parliament should acknowledge of more than 60,000 were brought to our continent between 1863 and 1994 from Tanna and Vanuatu and 80 or so other islands," he said.
"Sometimes against their will or through deception. So-called blackbirding, working as indentured servants in the cotton and sugar plantations."
Mr Shorten said his meeting with Dr Mabo in 2015 left an impression.
"I had the privilege of catching up and meeting with her in Cairns in 2015 and I was struck by her vitality, by her fire," Mr Shorten said.
"She exerted the pride, the power and the presence of a true matriarch."
Prime Minister Scott Morrison used parliamentary Question Time to pay tribute to Dr Mabo. Source: SBS
'A fierce passion for reconciliation'
Indigenous WA Labor senator Pat Dodson also paid tribute.
He said that her death marked "the reconciliation of two proud Australian souls, a loving couple who have made our country down here on earth a better place, a more harmonious place and a more reconciled nation".
He said the advocacy of Mrs Mabo inspired his own efforts towards reconciliation.
"The Mabo family paved the way for my own activism and a reconciled Australia - one that recognised the First Nations people," Senator Dodson said.
"Mrs Mabo had a fierce passion for reconciliation...she believed common decency could outweigh racism."
Tributes continued to be posted by Indigenous leaders on social media.
"One of the great First Nations Women of our time," wrote Indigenous Labor MP Linda Burney.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner June Oscar wrote: "I will always remember her as the mother of native title".
Indigenous academic Marcia Langton posted a message hailing the activism of Eddie and Bonita Mabo that "remade our world".
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