Terra nullius is a latin expression meaning “nobody's land”. This term is used in international law, especially in therelation to Captain James CookCook's discovery of Australia, as he deemed the Aboriginal people totoo primitive to even bother attempting to negotiate with them. He thentherefore declared the land a terra nullius. For indigenous Australians, the land owns the indigenous people as they are spiritually connected to the landit; the importance is nothing likethe land has for them cannot be compared to what other Australians have. The term Terraterra nullius is used a lot in deciding the outcome of native title claims, especially in the Gove land rights case Milirrpum v Nabalco Pty Ltd (1971) 17 FLR 141. The Yolngu people of the Gove Peninsula of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory had lived in thethat land for 60,000 years and were fighting against a mining company that had obtained mining rights for 12 years on theirthat particular land for 12 years. The Yolngu people could not claim a native title, as Justice Blackburn found that Terra Nulliusnullius had extinguished native title land rights. However, the case was used aas a precedent in the future thatthereafter, and helped other judges establish Native Titlenative titles.