Please join us in to hear from Torres Strait Island Regional Council Mayor, Phillemon Mosby, as he presents JCU’s 2026 Eddie Koiki Mabo Lecture.

This year, the lecture will be held in Cairns, bringing this important event to Far North Queensland communities.

Eddie Koiki Mabo had a strong and long-lasting connection with James Cook University.  It was here that he began his journey to challenge land ownership laws on Mer (Murray Island) in the Torres Strait.  The University provided the environment and context in which discussions challenging terra nullius could be had, including staff and student involvement in the coordination of the original ‘Land Rights and the Future of Race Relations’ conference that sparked the legal action filed in the High Court of Australia the following year.  The recognition of native title by the High Court of Australia in 1992, and the Keating Government’s subsequent Native Title Act 1993, were important steps forward in our country’s reconciliation with Australia’s Indigenous peoples.