Aborigines say they still want apology from PM
SYDNEY (AFP) - Aboriginal leaders Friday cautiously welcomed Prime Minister John Howard's plan to grant special constitutional recognition to indigenous people but said they still deserved an apology for past wrongs.
Critics also questioned the timing of Howard's push to acknowledge indigenous people, accusing him of trying to win votes in middle Australia as he trails badly in opinion polls with an election looming.
Howard said late Thursday that he would hold a referendum if re-elected on whether to re-write the constitution so its preamble recognised the unique position of the Aborigines as Australia's first people.
At the same time, Howard admitted making mistakes in his often strained relationship with the Aboriginal community, difficulties reflected in the suspicious reaction of some indigenous groups to his proposal.
"It would seem Mr Howard's actions over 11 years belie his words," said the director of the Northern Territory's Central Land Council, David Ross.
"When a snake sheds his skin, he has a shiny new skin, but he's still the same old snake, with the same old venom."
The New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council said Howard failed to understand that Aborigines needed the government to apologise for past grievances, including the seizure of Aboriginal children which went on until the 1970s.
Council chairwoman Bev Manton said Howard was launching a last-ditch attempt to rewrite his failed legacy on Aboriginal issues.
"His continued dismissal of an apology demonstrates this is all about John Howard in the anticipated dying days of his prime ministership, rather than any genuine attempt to reconcile this nation," she said.
Even Aboriginal leaders who accepted that the motives behind Howard's referendum proposal were genuine said the conservative leader was wrong to continue to rule out saying sorry.
"Just about every (state) premier ... and just about every mayor in this country has said it and nothing negative has come out of it -- it's all been positive," said Warren Mundine, the head of NSW Native Title Services.
"So I'd like him to say that. But, not to be too negative, it's probably a step in the right direction," Mundine told ABC radio.
Howard said he could not sanction an apology because it involved blaming modern Australians for the mistakes of their forebears.
"Conservative Australia will not vote for something that's built on shame and repudiation," Howard told reporters.
"Obviously there were great injustices done to indigenous people in the past but I have never been willing to embrace a formal national apology because I do not believe the current generation can take responsibility for the deeds of earlier generations."
Howard said his proposal would allow reconciliation to take place in a positive way.
"I think to typify this as to whether you do or don't say sorry is to misunderstand what is involved and to trivialise it," he said.
Howard said his government's controversial move earlier this year to seize control of remote Aboriginal communities had stoked public enthusiasm for reconciliation by revamping the indigenous policies of the past 30 years.
"We have an unexpected and perhaps time-limited convergence of sentiment on this issue and we have to build on that," he said.
There are about 470,000 Aborigines in Australia's 20-million-strong population.
They are the country's most impoverished community, with life expectancy more than 17 years lower than other Australians. They suffer from higher rates of heart disease, infant mortality and domestic violence.
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Topic: Australia are you sorry cause I am not. (Read 5336 times)