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QLDModern HistoryQuick questions

Unit 2: Movements in the modern world

Quick questions on Australian Indigenous rights movements (QCE Modern History Unit 2)

15short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.

What is day of Mourning?
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Aboriginal Progressive Association (NSW) led by William Cooper, Jack Patten and William Ferguson held the first Day of Mourning to coincide with the 150th anniversary of British colonisation. Demanded full citizenship rights.
What is constitutional exclusion?
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Section 127127 of the Constitution (1901) provided that "aboriginal natives shall not be counted" in reckoning the Commonwealth or state populations. Section 51(xxvi)51(xxvi) gave the Commonwealth power to make laws for "the people of any race, other than the aboriginal race in any State". Both provisions excluded Aboriginal people from Commonwealth jurisdiction.
What is cummeragunja Walk-Off?
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Around 200200 Aboriginal people walked off the Cummeragunja reserve (Murray River, NSW) in protest at conditions. One of the first organised protest actions of the modern era.
What is fCAATSI?
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First national Indigenous advocacy organisation. Campaigned for the 1967 referendum.
What is freedom Ride?
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Charles Perkins (Arrernte) and University of Sydney students toured NSW country towns documenting and protesting racial discrimination. Modelled on US Freedom Rides.
What is wave Hill Walk-Off?
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Vincent Lingiari led 200200 Gurindji stockmen, domestics and their families off the Wave Hill cattle station owned by Vesteys, initially over wages but evolving into a land-rights claim. The strike continued until 1975, when Whitlam handed Lingiari a symbolic handful of soil at Daguragu.
What is 1967 Referendum?
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90.7790.77% Yes vote on the question to amend sections 51(xxvi)51(xxvi) and 127127. The highest Yes vote in any Australian referendum.
What is aboriginal Tent Embassy?
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Set up on the lawns of Parliament House (Old Parliament House) in Canberra. Demanded recognition of land rights. Continues to operate as a permanent protest.
What are department of Aboriginal Affairs?
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Established by the Whitlam government.
What is aboriginal Land Rights Act?
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Fraser government legislation establishing the first land-rights regime in Australia. Returned approximately 5050% of the Northern Territory to Aboriginal traditional owners by the 21st century.
What is mabo v Queensland?
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High Court decision rejecting the doctrine of terra nullius. Eddie Koiki Mabo (Meriam, Murray Islands) and others established native title at common law over the Murray Islands. The decision overruled 200200 years of legal fiction.
What is native Title Act?
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Keating government legislation providing a statutory framework for recognition of native title claims across Australia. Keating's "Redfern Speech" (December 1992) acknowledged settler responsibility for dispossession.
What is wik decision?
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High Court ruled that pastoral leases did not necessarily extinguish native title. The Howard government's Ten Point Plan (1997) and Native Title Amendment Act (1998) limited native title's reach.
What is national Apology?
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Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivered a formal apology to the Stolen Generations in the House of Representatives.
What is uluru Statement from the Heart?
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Issued from the First Nations National Constitutional Convention at Uluru. Called for a constitutionally enshrined First Nations Voice to Parliament, a Makarrata Commission for treaty and truth-telling.

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