Let's call Pauline Hanson's comments what they are.

Racism.

Calling Aboriginal people "primitive" and questioning what we achieved over tens of thousands of years is not courageous political debate. It is ignorance being given a microphone.

I'm a proud Gunditjmara man.

My people engineered the Budj Bim cultural landscape — sophisticated aquaculture systems, channels, weirs and dams used to manage Country and harvest kooyang for thousands of years.

Our people had law, governance, trade, medicine, languages, astronomy, fire management and deep knowledge of Country.

Then came colonisation. Land was taken. People were killed. Children were removed. Languages and culture were attacked.

And still, we are here. That is strength. That is survival. That is knowledge passed across generations.

What angers me most is that Aboriginal kids hear this. They hear an elected Senator describe their ancestors as lesser and their culture as somehow inferior.

That has consequences.

And it is exactly why Aboriginal history must be taught properly in our schools.

Debate policy. Question government spending. Demand accountability. But stop using Aboriginal people and our culture as political targets.

We do not need Pauline Hanson's approval to know who we are.

I am Aboriginal. I am Gunditjmara. I am proud of my ancestors.

We are not primitive. We never were.

And Aboriginal people should not have to keep proving our humanity to people who refuse to learn the history of the country they represent.

Enough.

Andrew Morrison is a proud Gunditjmara man and Aboriginal health leader with more than two decades of experience working across community-controlled health and major public hospital systems.