O'Farrell has every right to suggest Burney profits from her "race" The NSW Premier is the latest to be accused of racism for apparently suggesting someone with some Aboriginal ancestry may have enjoyed some professional advantage: Barry O'Farrell has been called on to apologise for a perceived racial slur against the Labor frontbencher Linda Burney after he declared she hadn't achieved her career success on merit. Ms Burney, the first Aborigine elected to the NSW parliament and a former national ALP president, served as minister for community services in the former Labor government and is deputy leader of the opposition. During a heated exchange in question time on Tuesday over whether the current community services minister, Pru Goward, had misled parliament over caseworker numbers, Ms Burney said Ms Goward had ""lost the confidence of every caseworker in this state"." The Premier responded that Ms Goward ""has achieved every position in her life on merit"," before turning to Ms Burney and declaring: ""You can't say that."" I agree that O'Farrell insulted Burney and apparently on the grounds of her Aboriginality - in so far as it affected her career. This, under our absurdly restrictive laws against free speech, is arguably unlawful. But given Burney herself has cited her Aboriginality in applying for Labor positions, should O'Farrell's comments really be unlawful or damned as racist? Isn't is appropriate to discuss, even if some assumptions prove as false as Burney claims? And is Burney really suggesting her Aboriginal ancestry had nothing to do with some of the positions she'd held? Ms Burney, the member for Canterbury, is a former school teacher who holds an honorary doctorate in education from Charles Sturt University. She has served on the boards of SBS, the NSW Anti-Discrimination Board and the NSW Board of Studies. Demanding we observe trivial distinctions of "race" - rather than stress our common humanity - is itself racist. I just wish some people claiming to hate racism didn't actually insist on it. Reader Steve wonders if I've made a false assumption: When I heard O'Farrell's comment yesterday, I did not realise Ms Burney was indigenous ... I assumed he was referring to the Labor quota system of selecting females.