Legal Argumentative Essay

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The law recognizes that specific groups in society are permitted to have specific rights. Individuals in traditional homelands have the right to determine the application of health, education and welfare entitlements, free from government regulation and discrimination. However the rights Indigenous Australians are entitled to are not being completely trailed and therefore white law is being used as a tool of discrimination to Indigenous Australians.
After crossing paths with land-rights advocates and legal minds, Eddie Mabo became of crucial importance to Indigenous Australian land law. Mabo was looking to seek a retreat from injustice concerning Indigenous Australians right to the land. After a ten year legal battle, often referred to as the ‘Mabo’ Case, six out seven High Court Judges ruled that: ‘The Meriam people are entitled as against the whole world, to possession, occupation, use and enjoyment of the lands of the Murray Islands’. By showing that the Indigenous owned land as individuals and as families, and had clearly demarcated property boundaries, Mabo battle for land rights proved successful.
Whether or not human rights are being complied with in Australia is a questionable subject. The UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous peoples, Article 18 states that: ‘Indigenous peoples have the right to participate in decision-making in matters which would affect their rights, through representatives chosen by themselves in accordance with their own procedures, as well as to maintain and develop their own indigenous decision-making institutions’. With the intentions of ‘accordance with principles of justice, democracy, and respect for human rights, equality, non-discrimination, good governance and good faith’, the UN Decl...

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... 2014. National Drug Research Institute - National Alcohol Indicators Project (NAIP) bulletins. [online] Available at: http://ndri.curtin.edu.au/research/naip.cfm [Accessed: 28 Feb 2014].
Nfsa.gov.au. 2014. Mabo/Terra Nullius/The Mabo Case. [online] Available at: http://www.nfsa.gov.au/digitallearning/mabo/tn_23.shtml [Accessed: 28 Feb 2014].
Un.org. 2014. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. [online] Available at: http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/ [Accessed: 28 Feb 2014].
Wiliam, S. A. 2014. The Mabo case, Land Rights and Native Title, Changing rights and freedoms: Aboriginal people, History Year 9, NSW | Online Education Home Schooling Skwirk Australia. [online] Available at: http://www.skwirk.com/p-c_s-14_u-120_t-330_c-1136/the-mabo-case/nsw/the-mabo-case/changing-rights-and-freedoms-aboriginal-people/land-rights-and-native-title [Accessed: 28 Feb 2014].

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