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Why Terra Nullius? Anthropology and Property Law in Early Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 August 2010

Stuart Banner
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The British treated Australia as terra nullius—as unowned land. Under British colonial law, aboriginal Australians had no property rights in the land, and colonization accordingly vested ownership of the entire continent in the British government. The doctrine of terra nullius remained the law in Australia throughout the colonial period, and indeed right up to 1992.

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Law and History Review , Volume 23 , Issue 1 , Spring 2005 , pp. 95 - 131
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Copyright © the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois 2005

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