To have a tabloid incendiary blithely bleat about an invasion at the same time as the Garma Festival, as though he is a victim, rather than a beneficiary of invasion, is utterly reprehensible and a true measure of the man. He has a heart of stone and grovels to power while exploiting the powerless for cheap applause from the fringes of society. But his lack of empathy is not his greatest limitation. Rather it is his total lack of optimism for an expansive Australia, capable of living to its boundless potential and its most generous qualities. His other employer covered itself with even more glory providing a forum for Nazi Blair Cottrell, whose contributions on race capped off a fine week for defenders of the status quo. (Presumably, we can resolve the right-wing panic over unregulated population growth by renouncing further territorial claims in Europe.)

Garma tells us it is time for Australia to become home to those whose ancestors have been here for 65,000 years and to those who came later. But first there must be an acknowledgment that the land was taken by force. There was war, genocide and atrocities from both sides. To heal, there must be recognition of war, loss and grief followed by a treaty, a makarrata. That need not undermine the sovereignty of the Australian nation if couched correctly. Surely, it is not beyond the wit and wisdom of our best lawyers, conservative and progressive alike, to achieve that.

What the original custodians of this land have been requesting for almost two centuries (since the the passage of the Australian Courts Act 1828) is to have their prior occupation and forced dispossession properly recognised. This is not just about them. It is about all of us. The internal dignity and external reputation of a decent liberal democracy is derived from how it treats its most vulnerable minorities. This is not identity politics. It is the fair go of our parlance.

Mutitjulu elder Rolley Mintuma joins Pat Anderson as she carries the Uluru Statement from the Heart last year. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

It is rudimentary civic justice among the nations with whom we are fond of comparing ourselves. The Uluru Statement from The Heart deserved vastly more considered treatment from the Turnbull government than it received. It was buried in the same news cycle as the seven MPs found to have breached the citizenship provisions of the constitution. Those who drafted it deserved more respect than that. This nation deserved better.