...12 months exile...

I was put into jail at one stage on Murray, I was sixteen. Someone had complained that they'd seen me with a female and that I was drinking a liquor that we make out of coconut palms. I was in jail for about a week before I appeared in the court and was charged with being with this woman and being drunk on an Aboriginal reserve. The penalty I was given was twelve months exile from Murray Island. The Island Councillors ordered me to get off Murray and it was backed by the Department of Native Affairs. So I began working on the pearling luggers diving for shells.

Keywords: Chief Protector of Aborigines, Department of Native Affairs, exile, Exile, 1952, gaol, Mabo, Edward Koiki, Mer, Murray Island Council, pearling industry, Protection Act, 1951

Loos, Noel and Mabo, Edward 1996, 'Edward Mabo: His Life and Struggle for Land Rights', University of Queensland Press.
Source: Mabo, Edward Koiki