News
An Aboriginal apology
Kevin Rudd has promised to do what John Howard avoided for the entire period of his leadership: apologise to the Aboriginal people for past injustices.
The fear of the Howard government was that any apology would open the door to compensation claims – but Rudd denies that this will be the case. "I believe that the only appropriate thing that we've got to get right is the exact language of the apology," Rudd told the Australian media. "The purpose of saying sorry is to build a bridge, establish respect so we can move on with the practical business of closing the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous life expectancy and other challenges facing indigenous communities."
The Prime Minister has expressed the intention of consulting indigenous groups on the precise wording of the apology, and has not yet said whether it will contain the word 'sorry'.
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22 January 2008