Mabo Day to be a public holiday?

“There is still a lot of work to be done in terms of reconciling, but recognising the day my grandfather helped abolish Terra Nullius would be a step forward.”

“There is still a lot of work to be done in terms of reconciling, but recognising the day my grandfather helped abolish Terra Nullius would be a good way to take a step forwards.”

Kaleb Mabo wants a new national holiday.

One celebrating his grandfather, Eddie Koiki Mabo.

A man who pioneered the country’s most monumental Indigenous land rights case. And won.

Remember him?

For those of you who don’t, let us give you a refresher on “the Mabo case”.

On June 3, 1992 the High Court of Australia ruled that terra nullius should have never been applied to Australia. 

That is, a term meaning “land belonging to no one” was null and void, because Indigenous people had been there well before European colonisation occurred.

Eddie”‘Koiki” Mabo was the Torres Strait man who spear-headed the decision. He worked on his namesake case for 10 years before he tragically died just months before the court ruled in his favour. 

And now, 30 years later, his grandson is calling for June 3 to be a national day to honour the decision.

“I don’t so much need it to be a holiday celebrating him, I feel it’s just really important to have this national holiday recognising the outcome of a decision that is still so important today,” Mr Mabo said. 

“There is still a lot of work to be done in terms of reconciling, but recognising the day my grandfather helped abolish terra nullius would be a step forward.”

Mr Mabo is not alone in calling for a national holiday. 

It was the dying wish of Bonita, his grandmother and Eddie Mabo’s wife. 

“Eddie said on his death-bed he would like a national holiday for all Australians,” she told The Courier Mail in 2012 in an interview marking the 20th anniversary of the High Court Mabo decision.

“And so I thought we should do away with the Queen’s Birthday holiday – it’s not even held on her birthday – and replace it with Mabo Day.”

Mabo Day on June 3 is an official holiday in the Torres Strait but is not recognised as a public holiday nationally.

The celebration of Australia Day does not make things easier for Mr Mabo and his family.

“There are a lot of Australians who don’t know what my grandfather did and how significant the decision was,” he said. 

“It’s disappointing we don’t celebrate that decision but we have a day to celebrate the invasion (of Australia).”

Mr Mabo is raising funds to restore his grandfather's gravesite on Torres Strait Island, which has in recent years become decayed and overrun by nature. He aims to have it completed by June 3.