"If the United Nations were a body where not just nations could vote but every individual on the planet, we might start to see the truth of how all the people of the world really think."
— Paul Innes, Make or Break: The Extraordinary Life of Paul Innes (2022)
38 years.
One idea.
Paul Innes is a disability rights advocate and community founder based in Cairns, Far North Queensland, Australia. At age 20 a spinal injury left him a quadriplegic. He was told he would not survive. Then that he would never recover. He did both, partially.
In the 38 years since, he founded Independence World — a disability care service now running independently of him — established the site of Australia's first Rainbow Gathering, advocated for human rights, and wrote his autobiography. He also carried this idea.
The concept that became TERRA appeared in his published book in 2022. The technology to build it has only recently caught up with the necessity. TERRA is not a sudden inspiration. It is the culmination of a lifetime of thinking about justice, community, and what a genuinely fair world would require.