Denver Journal of International Law & Policy Volume 21 Number 2 Winter Article 4 May 2020 Indigenous People's Rights: Mabo and Others v. State of Queensland - The Australian High Court Addresses 200 Years of Oppression Gerald McGinley Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/djilp Recommended Citation Gerald McGinley, Indigenous People's Rights: Mabo and Others v. State of Queensland - The Australian High Court Addresses 200 Years of Oppression, 21 Denv. J. Int'l L. & Pol'y 311 (1993). This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ DU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Denver Journal of International Law & Policy by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ DU. For more information, please contact
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[email protected]. Indigenous Peoples' Rights: Mabo and Others v. State of Queensland1 - The Australian High Court Addresses 200 Years of Oppression GERALD P. MCGINLEY I. INTRODUCTION Australian Aboriginals share the common heritage of indigenous peo- ples. It is a history of violent dispossession, followed by alternating neg- lect and paternalism, culminating in belated and bewildered concern.' An international movement has evolved to rectify these wrongs.' 1993 is to be the International Year of the World's Indigenous Peoples" during which * Senior Lecturer in International Law, University of Adelaide. 1. Mabo v. Queensland, 107 A.L.R. 1 (1992). 2. See JANINE ROBERTS, MASSACRES TO MINING 13-19 (1981)[hereinafter ROBERTS]; MARC GUMBERT, NEITHER JUSTICE NOR REASON 15-25 (1984); HENRY REYNOLDS, DISPOSSES- SION (1989)[hereinafter REYNOLDS]. For a discussion of the history and problems of other indigenous peoples, see Raidza Torres, The Rights of Indigenous Populations:The Emerg- ing InternationalNorm, 16 YALE J.