The Queensland Parliament passed the Queensland Coast Islands Declaratory Act 1985 which sought to extinguish any property rights claimed to exist in the Murray Islands with effect from 1879 when the islands were annexed by the Crown to Queensland and to deny any right to compensation of Indigenous people. In 1988 the High Court found the Queensland Act to be inconsistent with section 10 of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) and therefore invalid to the extent of the inconsistency. The Queensland Act thus failed in its purpose.
