The Voice: Who Owns the Earth?

The premise of original ownership is typically invoked as the legal basis of land-rights on behalf of tribal communities which enjoyed exclusive occupation of the land in question prior to European colonisation. I contest this premise on the grounds of logical consistency, as it implicitly affirms superior ownership rights stemming from the common human ancestry that predates any subsequent colonisation. While I focus on the claims of original ownership applicable to Australia, the argument extends to all continents and regions.

If original ownership is a valid principle then every claim of exclusive tribal ownership is predated by the rights of our common ancestors, on account of their earliest exclusive and uncontested possession of the entire Earth, including the present day continent of Australia. All living humans are descendants of the same ancestors and are thus entitled to partake in the earliest possible claim of original ownership. Consequently, the argument of…