Australia says 'sorry' to Aborigines

0 Comments | AFP, February, 2008

CANBERRA (AFP) — Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologised to Aborigines Wednesday for past injustices, saying he wanted "to remove a great stain from the nation's soul."

The apology was viewed as a watershed in Australia's often fraught history of race relations, with television networks airing it live and thousands of people crowding around huge screens in major cities to witness the event.

"We apologise for the laws and policies of successive parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians," Rudd told parliament.

Public galleries in the parliament were packed to capacity for the gesture of reconciliation, with up to 3,000 people, including hundreds of Aborigines, watching on screens...