Fed: Rudd delivers formal 'sorry' to parliament =14

AAP General News (Australia)
02-13-2008
Fed: Rudd delivers formal 'sorry' to parliament =14

Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson said he rose to speak "strongly" in support of the apology.

"Today our nation crosses a threshold.

"We formally offer an apology, we say sorry to those Aboriginal people forcibly removed
from their families through the first seven decades of the 20th century," Dr Nelson said.

"In doing so, we reach from within ourselves to our past, those whose lives connect
us to it, and in deep understanding of its importance to our future."

Dr Nelson urged other Australians to place themselves in the the shoes of the stolen
generations and see the issue through their eyes "with decency and respect".

"This chapter in our nation's history is emblematic of much of the relationship between
indigenous and non-indigenous Australians from the arrival of the first fleet in 1788,"

Dr Nelson said.

"It is one of two cultures.

"One ancient, proud and celebrating its deep bond with this land for some 60,000 years.

"The other, no less proud, arrived here with little more than visionary hope, deeply
rooted in gritty determination to build an Australian nation, not just for its early settlers
and indigenous people but those who would increasingly come from all parts of the world.

"Whether Australian by birth or immigration, each one of us has a duty to understand
and respect what has been done in our name.

"In most cases, we do with great pride, but in others it is with shame."

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