Mabo Day, 2024

Mabo Day, celebrated on the 3rd of June, commemorates the High Court of Australia's decision to reject that the legal doctrine of terra nullius (land belonging to no-one) applied to Australia, and rule in favour of the Meriam plaintiffs' ongoing title to their land. 

This decision was brought about as a direct result of the work done by Eddie Koiki Mabo and his fellow plaintiffs – Sam Passi, David Passi, Celuia Mapo Salee and James Rice – in the Mabo Cases I and II. These Meriam people (from Mer Island) fought against the idea that The Crown owned their families' lands (because Australia was supposedly "empty" when the British colonisers arrived), and after more than 10 years of struggle in the courts, they won.

Sadly, Mabo died several months before the final verdict was handed down, but the legal victory of the case named after him is still celebrated to this day.

JCU has a proud association with Koiki Mabo, who worked in a number of positions at the university and frequently visited the library, which is now named the Eddie Koiki Mabo Library, in his honour. The Mabo Timeline interpretive wall can be seen on the ground floor of the building (located on the Bebegu Yumba campus, Douglas, Townsville), and you can learn more about Eddie Koiki Mabo's life as well as the Indigenous history of the land on which the Library is located.

If you can't make it here in person, you can also see a virtual tour of the interpretive wall and you can learn more about the Mabo Timeline by vising our Guide or the expanded open eBook version of the timeline, Eddie Koiki Mabo: History in the Making. 

This year, we once again have the Eddie Koiki Mabo Library Art Exhibition running in the Mabo Library. This exhibition, installed over two floors of the building, showcases a selection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art from the James Cook University Art Collection – including several works purchased for the Collection from previous Mabo Art Exhibitions. The exhibition is running from the 24th of May to the 26th of July,2024 so do drop in and see it if you are in Thul Garrie Waja/Garrumbilbarra (Townsville) in the next few weeks.