03/06/2026
🖤💛❤️ Today is Mabo Day ❤️💛🖤
Today we remember Eddie Koiki Mabo and the many First Nations people who refused to back down in the fight for justice and recognition.
One of Koiki and Bonita’s daughters, Gail Mabo, shares this story:
“In 1972 my family planned to visit Mer to see my grandfather, who was very unwell. But we were refused permission to travel.
Authorities said my father was ‘not an Islander’ anymore and wouldn’t let us go.
We returned home, and weeks later, we received news that my grandfather had passed away.
My father never forgave this injustice. It fuelled his determination to fight for recognition and equality.”
This moment helped spark a 10-year fight for justice.
On 3 June 1992, that fight changed Australia forever
The Mabo decision recognised that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are the traditional owners of this land
It also rejected the idea that Australia was “empty land” (terra nullius)
So what does that mean today?
It’s about truth
It’s about justice
It’s about respecting connection to Country
Mabo Day reminds us that the past matters — and so does what we do next.