Apology Impasse Near End
The Age
Thursday August 26, 1999
CANBERRA
The impasse over an apology to the stolen generations appears to have been broken with the Democrats' Senator Aden Ridgeway and the Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, agreeing there had to be an ``expression of regret" for the hurt to indigenous people.
Indigenous leaders and members of the stolen generation have moved away from a call for the nation to say ``sorry" or ``I apologise" in a move expected to win over National and Liberal politicians resisting an apology.
The wording of such an apology is still to be decided and the Democrats are expected to meet Mr Howard today to discuss what a possible motion would say.
But after a 45-minute meeting with Mr Howard yesterday, Senator Ridgeway and influential indigenous leaders were positive about an outcome.
In his maiden speech to Parliament last night, Senator Ridgeway called on the Government to ``act above party consideration" and deal with the matter of ``national interest". The Government had to express its ``deep and sincere regret for the hurt and trauma suffered by so many indigenous people".
Earlier in the day, Mr Howard told radio 6PR in Perth: ``If it were possible to find some form of words that respected that principle but acknowledged that there were blemishes in our history and there were mistakes made, then I have no difficulty with that."
The National Party leader, Mr John Anderson, said he thought a form of words could be reached.
But Labor has threatened to spoil cross-party solidarity by putting up its own motion that was rejected by Parliament in May 1997 when the Bringing Them Home report into the stolen generations was released.
The Opposition Leader, Mr Kim Beazley, said yesterday: ``We should not make an issue of national atonement dependent on scrabble political compromises.
``What a tragedy it would be if we had to accept second best just to protect John Howard's back."
Senator Ridgeway's wide-ranging maiden speech called for respect for ATSIC, indigenous self-empowerment and for the ``wheels of reconciliation" to be freed.
He warned the apology had to be meaningful, sincere and acceptable to the stolen generations.
About 200 people packed the galleries in the Senate chamber, including some of the harshest critics of Senator Ridgeway's compromise on the preamble to the Constitution that will be voted on in November's republic referendum.
The ATSIC chairman, Mr Gatjil Djerrkura, and one of the authors of Bringing Them Home, Mr Mick Dodson, were in the gallery as were Senator Ridgeway's mother, sons, fiancee and extended family.
Days of discussions with indigenous people, including leading figures who were also members of the stolen generations, helped to secure their support for the compromise.
The former ATSIC chairwoman, Dr Lowitja O'Donoghue, said the stolen generations had moved on from ``sorry". The annual ``sorry day" celebrations were now a ``journey of healing. We don't want Australians to feel guilty".
© 1999 The Age