On June 3rd, Mabo Day is commemorated. Eddie Koiki Mabo, a Mer Island resident, was honoured for his successful efforts to dispel the legal fiction of terra nullius, or “land that belongs to no one.”

The Mabo case spanned 10 years, beginning in the Queensland Supreme Court and ending in the High Court of Australia.

Following the Mabo ruling, Australia’s Federal Parliament approved the Native Title Act 1993, which established a legal framework for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander native title claims across the country.