of support for the values of the status quo, and it may be
thought that this is true of the present situation vis-à-vis
Australian Aborigines.

However, while recognising this, there is still a place for an
exposé and analysis of the issues involved in the land rights
movement. If one may be forgiven for a bad pun, it is not
a black and white matter; in addition, arguments and
rationales on both sides are often confused, and objectives
desperately unclear. As one observer has recently asked in
some exasperation: 'What are we trying to do in granting land
rights? Is it to assuage some feeling of guilt for past wrongs?
Is it to create a separate Aboriginal sovereignty over areas
of the Australian continent?' And the same writer goes on
to say:

There has been far too little real debate on the subject: it has
been stifled by ignorance on the part of opponents of the
concept and, although this might surprise, its supporters.
Particularly in the south, people have given their
unquestioning support for land rights, basing it on some fairy
tale idea of 'the mystic people of the Dreamtime' which takes
little account of current or past realities.

A calm and rational appraisal of the various issues in the land
rights movement may, therefore, have a therapeutic and
clarifying effect and perhaps even help those ardently
committed to the land rights platform to present their case
in a more adequate and persuasive way.

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