- Catch up with the first episode of First Contact
- Watch First Contact tonight at 8.30pm on SBS ONE
"God gave black people rhythm and soul. They can dance and sing and all are hot while they dance, but when it comes to brains, white people have better brains," Sandy said in the opening minutes of SBS's First Contact.
It was enough to send social media users into a frenzy, with many outraged at her comments.
"If they think it's racist, well, I don't f***ken care," the mother of five added.
The landmark program explores the journeys of people who hold preconceived ideas about Aboriginal Australians. Six people with strong opinions have been immersed in Australian Aboriginal culture for the first time.
"Petrol-sniffing and drug-taking", "we give them houses, they burn them down", "a lot of freeloading", "classing themselves as Aboriginal to get more welfare" are just some of the views held by the six participants.
In one scene, Sandy refused to sleep on a child's mattress that was vacated for her, saying it was dirty.
"I know what happens on those mattresses, they all sleeping on it with all their sweat, their drinking and their partying, I'm not doing that," the mortgage broker from Newcastle said. She quit the program halfway through filming.
One creator of the show, Darren Dale, said he was inspired by statistics showing six of 10 Australians had no contact with Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people.
"It all came from the starting point of the Reconciliation Australia (finding of) six out of 10 -- six out of 10 Australians have had little or no contact with Aboriginal people. So I think what we're hoping to achieve is starting a new discussion. I think that discussion is as much for Aboriginal people to be involved in and have a different discussion as well."
Ray Martin, host of the program, said the controversial views are exactly why he wanted to be involved.
He said he considers them far too common and the six people he went on the month-long journey with offered a real reflection of what Australians think.
"They are very Aussie. They are very ordinary, like all of us, in a sense. And they don't pretend to know, but they're ready to learn. And they're very charitable, I think, finally, in what they saw. And they met some very powerful women especially, but they met some very powerful people, who changed their minds. So every one of them, at one stage, broke down."
This 3 part series continues Wednesday 19 and Thursday 20 November. What did you think of the First Contact episode one? Comment below or tweet @sbsnews
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