Our Indigenous affairs editor, Lorena Allam, has written about that need to shift to progress truth-telling and treaty-making, the other elements of the Uluru statement from the heart.

But with civil discourse fraying and the possibility of opportunistic violence arising from the Israel-Hamas war, it’s clear the cleavage between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians is just one manifestation of racism in Australia.

It called for: better data on the impact of racism, improving public awareness, cultural safety in workplaces and the delivery of services, legal protections, a focus on the discrimination against Indigenous Australians in the justice system, and “stronger media standards and more effective regulation”.

It may be difficult to secure the attendance of Peter Dutton, an opposition leader who walked out on the apology to the Stolen Generations (for which he apologised), raised fears about African gangs in Melbourne, and argued that Liberal prime minister Malcolm Fraser should not have let people of “Lebanese-Muslim” background into Australia.

Taken at face value, rights like these are neutral when it comes to race, but would still do a lot of good especially for Indigenous Australians, some of the most disadvantaged people on earth, if governments were prepared to enact and deliver them.

When the Morrison government tried unsuccessfully to push its divisive religious discrimination bill through parliament, the then Labor opposition complained it didn’t contain a protection against vilification on the grounds of religion.

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