Australia apologizes to Indigenous Peoples


CANBERRA, Australia - Kevin Rudd, Australia's newly elected prime minister, recently apologized to its Aboriginal peoples for centuries of racism and oppression they suffered, including the removal of an estimated 100,000 children forcibly taken from their families under racist assimilation policies that finally ended in the 1970s.  

 
Long overdue:  Aboriginal peoples thanked Prime Minister Rudd following Australia's formal apology.  AP Photo
On February 13, 2008, before a packed audience of Parliament and tens of thousands watching on television, Rudd said, "For the pain, suffering and hurt of these stolen generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry."

Rudd said this was the first act of his Labor government and assembled Parliament "...to remove this great stain from the nation's soul, and in a true spirit of reconciliation to open a new chapter in the history of Australia."

Just five months before, under the prior administration of John Howard, Australia voted against the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Australia's new government has since withdrawn its vote against the Declaration.         

Rudd's apology was received warmly by most people. Although Aboriginals are not represented in Parliament, the leader of the Liberal opposition, Brendan Nelson, said he "strongly" welcomed the apology.  Despite these steps, Rudd said that Australia has no intention of paying reparations to Australia's Aboriginal peoples.

While many Aboriginal peoples - who number some 460,000 people or roughly 2% of Australia's population - were grateful for the apology, many were upset by the absence of compensation for their pain and suffering.   

Noel Pearson, a respected Aboriginal leader told The Australian newspaper, "Blackfellas will get the words, the whitefellas keep the money."

LINKS
To read the full text of  Prime Minister Rudd's apology, click here.

Download the February 13, 2008 article from the International Herald Tribune here

Will Canada follow the apology trend?