CHAPTER 7 AND JUSTICE FOR ALL?
7.8 Mabo, Wik and native title issues
Name:
ACTIVITIES
Check your understanding
1.
How did Captain Cook justify his claim to Australia’s east coast in 1770?
2.
Why did the Meriam Islanders take the Queensland Government to court?
3.
Why was the Mabo decision a turning point in the history of land rights claims in
Australia?
4.
What aspects of the Native Title Act :
(a) created certainty for Australian landholders
(b)
provided help to some groups?
5.
What question had still not been answered by the Native Title Act?
6.
Devise three to five questions to find out what other people know about the Mabo
decision. Use your questions to survey between five and ten people and discuss your
findings with the class.
7.
What were the main features of the Wik decision?
8.
In what ways did the proposed Ten-Point Plan undermine the Wik decision?
9.
Why could a law based on the Ten-Point Plan be challenged in the High Court?
10. Which points in the Ten-Point Plan seemed (a) positive, (b) negative or (c) neutral with
regard to the rights of Aboriginal Australians?
11. What is the legal difference between ‘land rights’ and ‘native title’?
12. What areas can and cannot be subject to native title claims?
Retroactive 2 2E Activities
© Maureen Anderson, Anne Low, Jeffrey Conroy, Ian Keese 2005
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RETROACTIVE 2 2E
Using sources
1.
Write three facts about the man shown in source 7.8.1 to explain why he is important to
Australian history.
2.
What was important about the High Court’s decision in Mabo ? Use source 7.8.2 to
explain, in a paragraph, why very few people would be able to claim land as a result of
the Mabo decision.
3.
What is the message of Keating’s speech in 7.8.4?
4.
What does source 7.8.5 indicate about the attitudes of many Australians towards native
title?
Researching and communicating
1.
To learn more about native title, go to www.jaconline.com.au/retroactive/retroactive2 and
click on the Native Title Tribunal weblink. Divide into groups and allocate each group a
native title case for which they must record information about (a) the relevant issue, (b)
the decision reached and (c) the significance of the decision.
2.
To find out more about the Ten-Point Plan, go to
www.jaconline.com.au/retroactive/retroactive2 and click on the Ten-Point Plan weblink.
Worksheets
7.3
7.4
Write a biography
Story behind the photo
Notes:
Retroactive 2 2E Activities
© Maureen Anderson, Anne Low, Jeffrey Conroy, Ian Keese 2005
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