I am a non-Aboriginal Australian who lived in a remote community for many years and I can tell you that when white people go somewhere where we are not the dominant culture we struggle. People being told they need to ask permission to go to the beach, or go camping in a certain spot really rubbed so many people the wrong way. Yet if a kid walked into their yard, that kid would get scalded. What if this were compared to a farmer who has a popular waterfall on their property and they stop letting the public go there. They wouldn’t need a reason to give, but they would probably say safety or disrespectful behaviour, because there would be backlash from people who felt they had the right to go there. This will outrage white people because it inconveniences them.

Aboriginal Australians had their land stolen and have had to unfairly use the systems of the culture that stole that land to try and reclaim it. It is taking time with court cases and education, and sometimes, they have a small win. So many people only want Aboriginal cultures to be seen and not heard. Respect means saying an acknowledgement of country, and dusting your hands of that. So much pearl clutching when a genuine concession is made. If you want to go anywhere on someone else’s property then open your house to the public.

I think that these are fiction writers. The maths you’d use to design that bridge is fact and the book company merely decided how to display facts. They do not own that information, whereas the Handmaid’s Tale was the creation of Margaret Atwood and was an original work.