In 1982, Eddie Mabo and four other Torres Strait Islanders from Mer (Murray Island) started legal proceedings to establish their traditional land ownership. This led to "Mabo v Queensland (No 1)". In 1992, after ten years of hearings before the Queensland Supreme Court and the High Court of Australia, the latter court found in "Mabo v Queensland (No 2)" ("the Mabo case") that the Mer people had owned their land prior to annexation by the colony of Queensland (1872–1879). The ruling thus had far-reaching significance for the land claims of both Torres Strait Islanders and other Aboriginal Australians.