As The World Turns: Australian Prime Minister-Elect Kevin Rudd To Address Issue Of Aboriginal 'Stolen Generations' Early In His First Term

"Australia's new government will issue a formal apology to Aborigines for the abuses they suffered in the past, prime minister-elect Kevin Rudd has promised. Mr Rudd, whose Labor Party swept to power in an election on Saturday, said the apology would come early in his first parliamentary term.

Outgoing Prime Minister John Howard had repeatedly refused to say sorry....

Indigenous Australians remain an impoverished minority, with a much lower life expectancy than the rest of the population.

Thousands of Aboriginal children were handed over to white families under Australian government assimilation policies from 1915 to 1969.

The issue continues to be a controversial one among Australians.

Mr Howard held back from offering a full apology to the so-called Stolen Generations, saying the current generation should not feel guilty about mistakes from the past." ...

BBC News "Rudd to apologise to Aborigines" November 26, 2007















Detail of the Great Australian Clock, Queen Victoria Building, Sydney, Australia.

The Queen Victoria Building, or QVB, is a grand Victorian building located in the heart of the Sydney central business district. The Great Australian Clock, designed and made by Chris Cook, weighs four tonnes and stands ten metres tall. It includes 33 scenes from Australian history (Wikipedia)

[Click on image for enlargement.]

Photo credit: (c) Brian Jenkins 2004. All rights reserved. With thanks. Via Wikimedia Commons.