DENIAL BY DEFLECTION: THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ILLUSORY RIGHTS IN THE DENIAL OF FIRST NATION SOVEREIGNTIES

Abstract

Forty-two years have passed since the establishment of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra and 22 years since Mabo declared terra nullius a fiction, removing legitimate basis for Crown sovereignty. However, recognition of First Nation sovereignties remains unrealised. This article suggests that formal rights have proven mixed and illusory, allowing governments to avoid recognition of First Nations’ sovereignties and rights to self-determination. The absence of First Nations sovereignties continues to disadvantage and rob Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of the capacity to negotiate a just future. Policy has failed and will continue to fail unless First Nations Peoples have the sovereign rights necessary for self-government, effecting change, and accessing resources that are rightfully theirs.