[3] The Prime Minister Paul Keating during his Redfern speech praised the decision, saying it "establishes a fundamental truth, and lays the basis for justice".

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 according to their local customs, original native ownership and their actual use and possession of the land.

[17] 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).

[23] A majority of the court rejected the notion that the doctrine of terra nullius precluded the common law recognition of traditional Indigenous rights and interests in land at the time of British settlement of New South Wales.

[27] Responding to these criticisms, Mason stated, "what the British thought about its international law grounds for establishing sovereignty over Australia, for annexing Australia, is beside the point" with the decision actually concerned with answering the question, "does the common law (as applied in the Australian colonies) exclude altogether the rights of the indigenous people so that forever the rights they formerly had are excluded?

[3] Then prime minister Paul Keating, praised the decision in his Redfern Speech, saying that it "establishes a fundamental truth, and lays the basis for justice".

[4] Richard Court, the premier of Western Australia, voiced opposition to the decision in comments echoed by various mining and pastoralist interest groups.

[33] On 1 February 2014, the traditional owners of land on Badu Island received freehold title to 9,836 hectares (24,310 acres) in an act of the Queensland Government.

[36] Mabo Day is an official holiday in the Torres Shire, celebrated on 3 June,[37] and occurs during National Reconciliation Week in Australia.

[38][39] The case was referenced in the 1997 comedy The Castle, as an icon of legal rightness, embodied in the quote: "In summing up, it’s the Constitution, it’s Mabo, it’s justice, it’s law, it’s the vibe.

"[40] In 2009, as part of the Q150 celebrations, the Mabo High Court of Australia decision was announced as one of the Q150 Icons of Queensland for its role as a "Defining Moment".