Enough to make Mabo turn in his grave

The bus driver, from the step of his gleaming interstater, declares: “On my bus everyone is treated equal, and from now on there will be no black or white people - you’re all going to be green people.”

He then adds, “All the dark green people to the rear and light green people to the front”.

My old mate Eddie Mabo, who attended James Cook University in 1979 at the same time as me, would turn in his grave today if he knew how dismissive governments of all persuasions were of Indigenous people’s traditional land-use aspirations.

More than likely, if he waited in line at an intercity bus terminal in Perth to catch a bus back to Townsville he would see Western Australian Environment Minister Faragher, behind the wheel of a gleaming interstater adorned with BHP Billiton sponsorship, waiting to take his ticket.