Mabo Oration 2009

The Anti-Discrimination Commission Queensland is hosting the third Mabo Oration in the Concert Hall of the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Southbank on Friday, 5 June 2009 from 5.30pm—7.30 pm. Every second year, the Commission hosts the oration, in partnership with the Mabo family and the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, to honour Eddie Koiki Mabo and celebrate his contribution to native land title and other Indigenous human rights.

The oration provides an opportunity to commemorate the High Court’s 1992 Mabo decision which changed the course of Australia’s history by recognising native title and reversing the doctrine of terra nullius.

The 2009 Mabo Oration will be delivered by Mr Tom Calma, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner and Race Discrimination Commissioner with the Australian Human Rights Commission. Mr Calma will speak on his conviction that ‘From self respect comes dignity, and from dignity comes hope’: meeting the challenge of social justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Murray Rutledge Wilcox QC, former Australian Federal Court Judge and author of An Australian Charter of Rights, will provide comment on Mr Calma’s oration. Mr Wilcox may be best remembered for handing down the controversial Noongar Native Title ruling before retiring in 2006.

The Mabo Oration 2009 has been accredited by the Queensland Bar Association for 1 CPD point per hour, code ADCQ09 – non-allocated strand.  For the Queensland Law Society CPD scheme, if you believe this is relevant to your professional development, you are invited to claim 1 point per hour of attendance, excluding breaks.

The inaugural Mabo Oration was held in June 2005 and was given by Noel Pearson who spoke on “Peoples, Nation and Peace”. The 2007 Oration was delivered in June 2007 by Professor Larissa Behrendt who spoke on “Finding the Promise of Mabo: Law and Social Justice for the First Australians”.

The program for the evening also includes performances by internationally acclaimed didgeridoo player William Barton, a dance performance by students from the Aboriginal Centre for Performing Arts, and will be signed by Auslan interpreters. 

Mabo Oration 2009
Date: Friday 5 June
Time: 5.30pm
Venue: Concert Hall, QPAC
Price: $16.50
Bookings: Qtix: ph: 136 246 or www.qtix.com.au

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