To The Australian Nick Cater rightly analyses the dangers inherent in that "radical manifesto", the Uluru Statement from the Heart ("Poverty at core of this inequity", 29/7), but his realism deserts him when he adds that, on relevant constitutional reform, "there can be no doubt on which side Scott Morrison's government stands". Alas, contrary to Cater's apparent supposition, it is on the wrong side, as shown by the PM's appointment of a noted Aboriginal industry activist (Ken Wyatt) to a ministry charged with preparing for a referendum to enable some form of Aboriginal recognition within the Constitution. The momentum for disastrous damage to the political order of this nation may not be "unstoppable", but it is intense and most courageous statesmanship will be needed to halt it. Will there be a better moment for reversal of direction than now, when the PM's approval rating is up? Morrison should (1) admit publicly that there is grave concern about our national future in this context, (2) instruct Wyatt to set up a committee to review the whole topic, a committee with significant (majority) Anglo membership, and (3) foreshadow the result by stating that the Government does not see change to the Constitution as necessarily the right way to go for management of Aboriginal issues. Continued temporising plays into the hands of the enemy.
Nigel Jackson, Belgrave, Vic