Editing Mabo v Queensland (No 2) (section)

===Legal Background===
Prior to ''Mabo'', the pre-colonial property interests of Indigenous Australians were not recognised by the Australian legal system.                                           Litigation over this issue directly did not arise until the 1970s with the case of ''[[Milirrpum v Nabalco Pty Ltd]]''.{{sfn|Bartlett|2020|p=11}} In that case, native title was held to not exist and to never have existed in Australia.

Later, in 1982, the [[plaintiffs]], headed by [[Eddie Mabo]], requested a declaration from the High Court that the Meriam people were entitled to property rights on [[Murray Island, Queensland|Murray Island]] according to their local customs, original native ownership and their actual use and possession of the land.{{sfn|Bartlett|2020|p=18}} The State of Queensland was the respondent to the proceeding and argued that native title rights had never existed in Australia and even if it did they had been removed due to (at the latest) the passage of the ''Land Act 1910'' (Qld).{{sfn|Bartlett|2020|p=18}}

Prior to judgment, the [[Queensland Government|Queensland government]] passed the ''Queensland Coast Islands Declaratory Act 1985'' (Qld), which purported to extinguish the native title on the Murray Islands that Mabo and the other plaintiffs were seeking to claim. This was successfully challenged in [[Mabo v Queensland (No 1)|''Mabo v Queensland'' (1988) 166 CLR 186]] (Mabo No 1) and declared as ineffective due to the act being inconsistent with the right to equality before the law, as established by the [[Racial Discrimination Act 1975|''Racial Discrimination Act 1975'' (Cth)]].{{sfn|Bartlett|2020|p=19}}