... was recognised by the High Court of Australia in Queensland v Mabo (No2) (1992). We set this contemporary discussion in relation to the conception of property that was developed by John Locke some three hundred years ago, and which is still the most influential justification of ownership. In the last set of lectures in this part of the course, we return to the legal formulation of native title, with particular reference to the question of how native title is `extinguished'. 2 Terra nullius What did the British Crown get when it `took' the continent of Australia? According to what might now be called the `discredited' view, `on the foundation of New South Wales, every square inch of territory in the colony became the property of the Crown' (Milirrpum v Nobalco (1971) FLR 245, per Blackburn J.). The basis of this finding was the long-standing legal determination that Australia was terra nullius ...

See this essay or coursework document in full right now