1967 Referendum In Australia

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The 1967 referendum is a very significant key development in aboriginal and Torres Strait islander peoples struggle for rights and freedoms. On the 27th of May in the year 1967 the federal government, who at the time was Harold Holt called a federal referendum to be put in place. The Holt government had an amendment to be approved relating to the only two discriminatory laws included in the Australian constitution. This referendum altered the balance of the inequity intended for to the aboriginals which strictly was a vote on the alteration of the constitution. Although, this referendum did give the indigenous Australians or Torres Strait Islanders the right to vote. This was a major endorsement, seeing the highest YES vote recorded in Australian …show more content…
During the year of 1987, the state government of the Queensland region took complete control over the Torres Strait islanders which at the time were situated in the northern district of Australia. The events leading up to this take over therefore contributed to the Mabo versus Queensland state of affairs, also known as the Mabo decision. Although they had been taken away from their main land the Torres Strait Islanders and Aboriginals still continued their traditional way of life on the Murray Island. Taking place after their land bad been declared terra nullius by the European settlers, the connection that the aboriginals had developed with their land had become unrecognised and was immediately in use by the British. As an act of retaliation the islanders and aboriginals developed a challenge to target the high court along with the help of the Eddie Mabo in order to lead them in action. Using information from source five in the retroactive textbook, the map showcases a reference according to the location of the Aboriginals and Torres Strait islanders new ground after their ownership of Australian territory was declared terra nullius. It is a demonstration of the location that the islanders were taken. The Queensland government had taken them away from their native land that they once had a connection to and moved majority of them to the Murray islands. Also, the substantiation from source six captures a moment of Eddie Mabo in attendance at the Supreme Court in Queensland. The presence of Eddie Mabo exemplified in this basis showcases his defence and support for the aboriginals and Torres Strait islanders. Eddie Mabo had a major involvement in the contribution to this trial for the reason that he led the court case in which he put up a challenge targeting the government by going against him and the high court in the trial.

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