Dear Andrew ...

It strikes me as odd that someone in your powerful position should find this so threatening. Why for example do you refer to the “pale-skinned” Michael Mansell? And when you describe him as the “legal” manager of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre, what extra information do you intend this word to convey?

Perhaps you ought to give this all some thought.

Anyway, I reckon you fell over your own feet when you took a poke at Graham Atkinson.

Remember how you may have misrepresented his position in an apparent effort to recruit him to your vendetta against Camp Sovereignty? You had suggested that he thought of the protestors as “blow-ins who are causing trouble”.

Atkinson corrected your errors in his letter to the editor a few days later. You responded the following week with what seems a remarkably intemperate and personal attack.

In fact, Andrew, you were way out of line.

Just to set the record straight, Graham Atkinson is not your average knockabout Koorie. His Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Arts degrees were awarded by Melbourne University. He completed his Masters of Business Administration at RMIT in 1994. He’s a busy professional who runs his own consultancy.

In his “spare time”, Graham is co-chair of the Victorian Traditional Owner Land Justice Group and chair of Native Title Services Victoria.

He had previously co-ordinated the Indigenous Studies elective for social work students at the University of Melbourne and chaired the Darebin Koori Employment Services Network.

But I should, as they say in this caper, declare a personal interest. I’ve met Graham on a couple of occasions, and - for a pointy-head - he’s surprisingly good company at the footy. Though I must concede that his refusal to support the Mighty Saints did give me occasion to doubt his acumen.

At half-time we chatted a bit about politics. For what it’s worth, I was impressed by his considered approach and his restrained use of language.

Indeed, if the extravagant pronouncements of some Indigenous leaders get on your wick as much as you suggest, you could do worse than seek to have a chat with him yourself.