Mount

BY CHARLOTTE

Gambier,

Community members came together at Mount Gambier City Hall last week to celebrate Mabo Day.

The morning tea also recognised Mount Gambier/Berrin Torres Strait Islander elder Uncle Jack Sailor.

Speaking with The Border Watch, Uncle Jack recalled working alongside Eddie Koiki Mabo himself in the railway industry.

Uncle Jack said Mr Mabo was “alright, cheeky, funny and an that Australia was not terra nullius when James Cook claimed it for the British Crown in 1770 after he climbed the summit of Possession Island in the Endeavour Strait.

Because of the Mabo Decision, First Nations Peoples’ laws and customs are able to be recognised across all of Australia.

The decision led the Australian Government to create the Native Title Act 1993.

Since the law began to operate in 1994, Native Title has been recognised by the Federal Court over almost 45 per cent of Australia’s land mass.

And in the Torres Strait Region, over almost every