Her comments show ignorance and her cause does nothing to further Aboriginal respect and understanding.

Sir Edmund Barton, who became Australia's first Prime Minister in 1901, had an illustrious career as a politician and later as a High Court Judge.

Port Macquarie should be proud of his association with our District.

Ms Mehan statement that "I'm looking for something to dismantle in the local community that represents racism and the statue does" is pathetic in the extreme and indicates a level of Aboriginal activism that is unjustified and reflects poorly on her as a Birpai women.

I fail to understand in what way Barton could be considered a racist. If she is referring to the "White Australia Policy" (more correctly called the Immigration Restriction Act) then she is wrong, as that Policy had nothing to do with the Indigenous people.

Having read some of the responses (and crude remarks) to the Petition, it is obvious that many would not even know who Barton was, or his importance to our Nation.

I would challenge those who will sign anything put under their nose, do your homework first and question what is Ms Mehan's agenda.

By the way the Statue is as least 35 metres from the burial site - how hard would it have been to get that right?

Derek Ball

Port Macquarie