It has been demonstrated time and time again that when white man's ignorance is permitted to over-ride aboriginal knowledge of customs and culture dating back well into pre-history, the end result can only spell disaster for both races.
For nothing could be more certain of ultimate, total and dismal failure than attempts by Government, at both State and Federal levels, to legislate in the interests of a minority racial group such as the Australian Aborigine "for whom it is deemed necessary to make special laws", without consulting acknowledged tribal Elders or those trusted white men who have, over the years, been granted the rare privilege of an insight into the lore, the culture, the language, the history and the laws of the former indigenous inhabitants of Australia and the aspirations of their modern-day descendents.
Never was such a lack of understanding more obvious to those who had spent a lifetime in close association with the Aborigine than when the former Member for Wills in the House of Representatives became the first Member of Federal Parliament to hold the newly-created portfolio of Aboriginal Affairs.
