I have to say, I was chatting with a Australian colleague some years ago and was deeply shocked when she started talking about the Aborigines (she called them 'the blacks'). I couldn't believe the utter contempt they were held in by what I always thought of as a reasonable, intelligent person.

This person believed the Aborigines were beyond any salvation, not worth the time of day or any attempt to empathise with their plight.

The only conclusion I drew from this is racism must be so deeply entrenched in Australian society people don't even know they're doing it, which is frightening.