To The Australian Gerard Henderson rightly notes that "the division between indigenous and other Australians is not quite what it seems" ("This nation of immigrants rightly cherishes its rich past", 26-27/1). There are important implications in this, which he does not draw out, but which need to be, so that ordinary Australians (the great majority of us) are not taken for a ride by confidence tricksters. The fact that most Australians "who identify as indigenous" have some non-indigenous blood, and that only "a very small number of Australians have only indigenous DNA", means that almost all those who currently present themselves as "indigenous leaders" of our so-called "First Peoples" are really laying claim to a representative status that they do not and cannot possess. In a nutshell, this means that their agitation for "constitutional recognition" and a changed date for Australia Day is morally built on sand.
Nigel Jackson, Belgrave, Vic