“GET over” being invaded and colonialism, Tangney federal Liberal MP Dennis Jensen told an Aboriginal woman on Twitter.

During a wider twitter talk about discrimination and whether social services specified for Aboriginal people were racist, Dr Jensen tweeted back and forth with TheKooriWoman, a self-described “big black Gomeroi woman” and “social justice warrior” who likes playing zombie-killing Left4Dead on XBox.

Dr Jensen asked her: “You agree with all the affirmative action programs? If so, you are the one who is racist, IMHO (in my humble opinion)”. He said people who are discriminated against can also discriminate.

TheKooriWoman replied: “That is called internalised racism, and it is an effect of colonialism.” Dr Jensen: “Hell, how long ago was colonialism? Get over it… every country in the world has been successfully invaded in the past!”

The MP has not stepped back from what he said but in a written statement has said, “in expressing my desire for true indigenous advancement, I may have used inappropriate channels of communication”.

“I will in future look to use more appropriate channels to pursue an agenda of generating policies to get true equality.

“I want to end the system as we know it, because it is not working for indigenous people. It is outdated. It is uncompetitive. It is out of time. There are better ways forward.

“I want to engage with the indigenous community constructively to unleash the obvious potential of that community. Let’s start talking, because we can do better.”

See the online edition of the Herald for tweet screenshots

by DAVID BELL