Dutton’s comments show we are back to punching down on Indigenous Australians for attention – and votes | Lorena Allam

A small group including a “known neo- Nazi ” were questioned by police for booing the welcome to country at the Melbourne Anzac Day dawn service.

This is all so familiar: another election campaign where punching down on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for attention and votes is the default setting.

A Yuwaalaraay woman, I don’t need to be welcomed to my own country; my elders welcome visitors in an act of generosity and respect that is centuries old.

Lorena Allam is descended from the Gamilaraay and Yuwaalaraay nations of north-western NSW .

She is the industry professor of Indigenous media at Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research at the University of Technology , Sydney .

Anthony Albanese said the “known neo- Nazi ” who booed, the ones who have stalked his and other candidates’ campaigns, are a real threat.

But we can’t do that without also addressing the licence they are given by the tone of mainstream political debate.