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By the time of Federation, there was still little recognition for Aboriginals. In fact the Aborgines were not counted as citizens in the census but as flora and fauna.
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were able to live peacefully in their own way of life in this time period. This lasted for about 100 years including the first few years of British coming to Australia.
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landed in Botany Bay and declared Australia 'terra nullius' 'meaning 'empty land'. He claimed this new land for the Crown ( King George III)
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The arrival of the First Fleet brough an end to Aboriginal peace and the beginning of land loss, diseas and destruction of the traditional Aboriginal way of life. The concept of 'terra nullius' or 'empty land' confirmed by whites and labelled 'The Big Lie' by Aborigines/
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Aborigines were able to gain some land but this was later reduced by half with Aborigines forcefully taken off the lands by police. The stripping away of these lands is recognised as the Second Dispossession, and resulted from settlements by invasion, white envy and the Soldier Resettlement Schemes after Worl War I. Many Aboriginal farms were handed over to returning World War I veterans.
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Yirrkala Bark Petition
Freedom Ride
Gurindji Walk Off -
The Referendum finally allowed for Aborigines to be included in the Australian census as people rather than flora and fauna.
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Four young Aboriginal men erected a beach umbrella on the lawns outside Parliament House in Canberra and put up a sign which read ' Aboriginal Embassy'. Over the following months, supporters of the embassy swelled to 2000. Their embassy was a tent - a well understood image of poverty and impermanence. Their camp attracted unprecedented support from people across the country that recognised their sense of grievance and made their views known to the government.
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The Native Title Act - A low which recognised Aboriginal rights to claim vacant crown/government land
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From 1998-1992
Eddie Mabo and four other Meriam people of the Murray Islands in the Torres Strait took action in the High Court of Australia seeking confirmation of their traditional land rights. The case was heard over ten years through both the High Court and the Queensland Supreme Court.