Thursday October 11, 08:45 PM
PM does an about-face on reconciliation
Prime Minister John Howard has delivered an extraordinary election eve mea culpa to indigenous
Australians, promising a referendum to recognise them formally in the constitution.
After years of refusing to apologise to Aboriginal Australians over their past treatment, Mr Howard
admitted he had failed to recognise the importance of symbolism in healing the rift
And while he still ruled out an apology, Mr Howard promised to change the constitutional
preamble and hold a referendum on wider constitutional changes.
Mr Howard said he believed Australians wanted to move forward with reconciliation and a
settlement of the issue.
"I share that desire, which is why I am here tonight," Mr Howard told the Sydney Institute in a
landmark speech.
"I announce that, if re-elected, I will put to the Australian people within 18 months a referendum to
formally recognise indigenous Australians in our constitution - their history as the first inhabitants
of our country, their unique heritage of culture and languages, and their special, though not
separate, place within a reconciled, indivisible nation."
Mr Howard said Australians had to find room "in our national life" to formally recognise the special
status of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as the first peoples of our nation.
He admitted he had struggled with reconciliation throughout his 11 years as prime minister, and
accepted his share of blame for "low points" in relations between his government and indigenous
people.
"There's been a change in attitude on my part, I guess there was a stage where I didn't think the
symbolic part of it mattered at all," Mr Howard said in a question and answer session after his
speech.
"I thought the only thing that mattered was the practical side of reconciliation - I think the practical
side of reconciliation is very, very important but I do recognise that the symbolic part of it is very
important.
"But the symbolic part of it has to occur and be expressed in a way that is acceptable to
`traditional Australia'."
Mr Howard conceded there had been "low points when dialogue between me as prime minister
and many indigenous leaders dwindled almost to the point of non-existence. I fully accept my
share of the blame for that."
He denied his remarks represented a "road to Damascus" conversion, instead crediting his
government's intervention in Northern Territory Aboriginal communities for creating a window of
opportunity to get the balance right.
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