Eddie Mabo - Death and Legacy

Death and Legacy

Mabo relaxed by working on his boat or painting watercolours of his island home, however after 10 years the strain began to affect his health. On 21 January 1992, he died of cancer at the age of 55.

Five months later, on 3 June 1992, the High Court announced its historic decision, namely overturning the legal doctrine of terra nullius - which is a term applied to the attitude of the British towards land ownership on the continent of Australia.

"...so Justice Moynihan's decision that Mabo wasn't the rightful heir was irrelevant because the decision that came out was that native title existed and it was up to the Aboriginal or Islander people to determine who owned what land." Henry Reynolds

That decision is now commonly called "Mabo" in Australia and is recognised for its landmark status. Three years after Mabo died, that being the traditional mourning period for the people of Murray Island, a gathering was held in Townsville for a memorial service.

Overnight, Mabo's gravesite was attacked by vandals who spray-painted swastikas and the word "Abo" (a derogatory slang term for "Aborigine") on his tombstone and removed a bronze bas-relief portrait of him. His family decided to have his body reburied on Murray Island. On the night of his re-interment, the Islanders performed their traditional ceremony for the burial of a king, a ritual not seen on the island for 80 years.

In 1992, Mabo was posthumously awarded the Australian Human Rights Medal in the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Awards, together with the Reverend Dave Passi, Sam Passi (deceased), James Rice (deceased), Celuia Mapo Salee (deceased) and Barbara Hocking. The award was in recognition "of their long and determined battle to gain justice for their people" and the "work over many years to gain legal recognition for indigenous people's rights".

In 1993 The Australian commemorated his work by voting him the 1992 Australian of the Year, not to be confused with the official Australian of the Year awards issued by the Australian Government.

On 21 May 2008, James Cook University named its Townsville campus library the Eddie Koiki Mabo Library.

Mabo Day is an official holiday in the Torres Shire, celebrated on 3 June.

On 10 June 2012, a television docudrama based on the life of Mabo was broadcast on Australia's Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) network.