Religion. Dreaming influenced the Land Rights Movement as it depicts the importance of Land in Aboriginal culture, rituals and beliefs. Through the Dreamtime stories we can establish that Indigenous Australians believe that people are a part of and conne

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‘Native Title’ refers to the right to live and access traditional land; it is the recognition at law of Aborigines right to take over land from their families. The ‘land rights’ movement is a religious and political movement that seeks to secure the rights of Aborigines to their land. The movement was established to ensure that Aboriginal religion, language, sacred sites and cultural integrity is preserved and maintained. Aborigines share a strong connection to the land; they regard land as sacred and not dead, believing that it is alive through the powers of their Ancestors. For Aboriginal people the land is the core of all spirituality and Aboriginal identity and is sustained by people and culture. Land rights are necessary to provide assurance for the continuation of rituals and ceremonies.

The struggle of Land Rights first began in the late 1700s after European settlement. The equality of Indigenous Australians was exploited and the assimilation policy caused much destruction and grief for Aborigines. Mabo and Wik are identified as two of the most significant cases regarding the Aboriginal land rights movement.

In 1982 Eddie Mabo led Torres Strait and Murray Island residents on a fight against the state of Queensland, in respect to the use of the Islands land. Indigenous Australians believed that the state was not free to extinguish the title of Meriam people. Finally after the Mabo case was failed in the state court it was then taken to the High Court of Australia. In June 1992 the Mabo case was won, the High Court declared that the Meriam people were free to possess and occupy the land of the Murray Islands.  In 1992, chief justice Brenom dismissed the notion of “terra nullius” - a belief that the land of Australia belonged to no one when the British arrived in 1778. Brenom stated that terra nullius held no place in contemporary Australia. After the Mabo judgment, the Native Title Act came into force on 1 January 1994. The Native Title Act introduced procedures and protection for dealing with Aboriginal claims and rights.

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The Mabo judgment made a substantial impact towards achieving land rights justice in Australia. The case however left unresolved the issues of native title on pastoral leases.On 23rdDecember 1996 the Wik case was handed down by the High Court. Wik focused on the situation concerning pastoral leases. The case claimed native title over the traditional land of Cape York Peninsula, Queensland. This decision determined that the native title could co-exist with other rights on the land held under pastoral lease. The court ruled that as the circumstances of pastoral leases differ, each must be judged independently. John Howard Government developed ...

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