ABSTRACT
The consequences of the sale of Roth North Queensland collection to the Australian Museum was only one of Roth's problems. In 1905, while he was Royal Commissioner looking into the conditions of Aboriginal people in Western Australia, a public meeting was held in Cooktown to protest against his reappointment as Protector of Aboriginals in Queensland. Questions were asked in Parliament, and fraudulent letters were tabled, accusing Roth of the most heinous crimes. In debates in the Queensland Parliament in 1905, the Member for Clermont said: He had frequently defended Dr Roth, but very serious charges had been made against him, and in his own interest inquiry should be made. Another charge was that while in the custody of Government property, certain ethnological specimens and pocketed the proceeds. That matter had been the subject of a question put to the Secretary for Public Lands, who had refused to write to Dr Roth and get information on the matter.
