Collier himself recognised that the federal government would need to change its policy, fundamentally as a result of the war.
In 1941 he pointed out that:
‘with resources inadequate to meet the needs of those already (on reservations), the problem of providing employment opportunities and a means of livelihood for each of the returning soldiers and workers will prove a staggering task.’
The following year he even hinted at a return to the policy of assimilation.
Saying ‘Never before have they been so well prepared to take their places among the general citizenry and to become assimilated into the white population.’