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The referendum was a massive achievement for Aboriginal Australians all over Australia. The vote got over 90% of all Australians voting to change 2 sections of the constitution. Although it was a massive achievement, in some cases the referendum failed to improve the way Indigenous People were treated which lead to more activism in the 1970s.
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Aboriginal Tent Embassy was established in front of the old Parliament House in Canberra, 1972. Four Indigenous men set up a beach umbrella on the lawn in front of the Parliament House in a peaceful protests against the McMahon Government in hopes to take back land rights.
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In August 1975 Gough Whitlam traveled to Daguragu to hand back the land to Vincent Lingiari and the Gurindji people. Gough poured sand into Vincents hand as a sign that the land belongs to the Indigenous people.
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The land rights act was the first attempt made by the government to recognise that the land belongs to the traditional owners, Indigenous peoples. It meant that Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory could claim land rights based on traditional occupation.
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In March of 1978, Pat O'Shane became the first Indigenous person in her age group to graduate from her Queensland high school in Cairns, late 1950s. And then went on to become the first Aboriginal teacher in Queensland, the first to earn a law degree, the first barrister and the first Aboriginal magistrate in the NSW local court. She made quite an impression on everyone and inspired many other indigenous people to pursue careers.
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Hundreds of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people gathered at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park to watch Governor General Sir Ninian Stephen handed over Uluru back to Anangu, the traditional owners. Anangu then signed an agreement leasing the land back to the
Australian Parks and Wildlife Service for 99 years. -
More than 40 thousand people including Aborigines and non-Indigenous supporters from across Australia, staged the largest march in Sydney since the Vietnam moratorium. The protesters marched through Sydney chanting for land rights and to challenge Australia day and what it represents.
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The High Court of Australia decided that terra nullius should not have been applied to Australia, because of the faults of the British not recognising Indigenous Australians and people. This decision overturned terra nulllius and recognised that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have rights to the land.
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The Bringing them home report was a tribute and acknowledgement to the struggles many of thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who were affected by the stolen generation.
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Prime Minister at the time,Kevin Rudd says 'Sorry' to the Stolen Generations for the acts of those before him.
