Backgrounder

Mabo: a Symbol of Sharing - The High Court Judgment Examined

This is a classic text explaining the Mabo decision, written almost ten years ago by Indigenous rights campaigner Sean Flood. Flood is a lawyer, but the text is written in a style which secondary school students would find accessible. It includes notes and discussion questions written for teachers and students. Flood's determination to make it accessible prompted him to put it online. The book is straight to the point with its explanations of fundamental concepts and quotations from those involved such as Justice Brennan, who said of the terra nullius doctrine, that it's 'contrary.. to the fundamental values of our common law' for it to be 'frozen in an age of racial discrimination'. The value of having this book on a website is that it makes it available after it has gone out of print (1998), it allows for updates and corrections, and it includes a hot-linked table of contents that makes good use of the frames on the page.