| Summary: | 2007 marked the 40th anniversary of the 1967 Referendum. Back on May 27th
1967, more than 90% of Australian eligible voters said “yes’ to two changes of the
Australian Constitution considered discriminatory to Aboriginal people. This event is
often considered as the first stage of Reconciliation in Australia. 2007 also marked the
10th Anniversary of the release of the Bringing Them Home Report that highlighted the
forced removal of Aboriginal children from their family as part of an assimilation
policy. From 1997, the issue of an apology became a sine qua non condition to
Reconciliation. It was an important element of the recommendations the Council for
Aboriginal Reconciliation submitted to Parliament in 2000. But, Liberal Prime Minister
John Howard, in office for more than ten years, refused to say the word “sorry” on the
basis that Australians of today are not responsible for the actions of the past and that
guilt is not hereditary. His focus was on what is called “practical reconciliation”. Some
changes are now on the way as Labor leader, Kevin Rudd, who defeated him at the last
federal election in November 24th 2007, has promised to make a formal apology to the
stolen generation. Why is it important to say “sorry”? At a time of dramatic
developments in Indigenous Affairs, this paper deals with the significance of an apology
for Reconciliation in Australia.
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