He criticised the Prime Minister who along with Mr Abbott became surrounded by up to 200 protesters inside a Canberra restaurant.

The protesters had been furious at comments they wrongly thought had been made by Mr Abbott to tear down the tent embassy outside Old Parliament House.

Mr Mansell said the protesters had legitimate reasons for their actions, despite the comments being false, given the state of Aboriginal neglect in Australia.

He said the tent embassy was a symbol of a breakdown in the relationship between Aboriginal people and the Australian government.

``So long as there's neglect of Aboriginal people the tent embassy has relevance and is a symbol of resistance,'' he said.

``The taking of their despair in a public way was legitimate.

``The situation was not dangerous despite what (PM Julia Gillard) says and her security to me seemed to be overzealous.''

He believed Ms Gillard could have defused the situation if she spoke to the protesters at the time, however reports indicate it was Mr Abbott who the activists wanted to confront.

``Tony Abbott later spoke calmly and did not provoke and simply explained somebody had got their wires crossed,'' Mr Mansell said.

``In other words Tony Abbott could see the need for leadership on this issue.''