Meriam woman and prominent visual artist Gail Mabo appeared on the ABC's Q&A program last night on a special panel examining how the country had reckoned with First Nations' land rights since the landmark High Court ruling.
The High Court eventually overturned the legal myth of terra nullius after a prolonged fight that spanned over a decade.
'Mabo isn't just about land'
Ms Mabo was joined by several panelists including Linda Burney, the Minister for Indigenous Australians, and urged the nation to continue on the journey towards reconciliation on the 30th anniversary of the decision.
"Mabo isn't just about land. Mabo is about a lot of things. It's how you apply that to what you need to do to move forward," Ms Mabo told the program on Thursday night.
Ms Mabo said the country still had a long way to go to heal the nation and fulfill true land rights for First Nations people.
Gail Mabo appeared on the ABC's Q&A program to discuss the importance of land rights (ABC: Q&A)
"One door has opened and now it's time for the next door to be opened — we can do that as a collaborative to move things forward," Ms Mabo said.
Ms Mabo said her father never lost his faith in his battle despite his decade-long struggle through the Queensland courts and eventually the High Court of Australia.
The unbroken bond to the land and seas of his home in Mer Island was indelibly linked to generations of his family stretching back millenniums.
"If we take away the land, who are we? We're lost people."
"That fight was his mantra that he wanted to make sure that we had entitlement to that land."
