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Australian PM Rules out Treaty or Apology to Aborigines
Australian Prime Minister John Howard said on December 8 that there are many paths to reconciliation between black and white Australia and a formal treaty or apology is not part of his commitment to the process.
The Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation, which handed its final report to Howard last Thursday, called for a national treaty on reconciliation.
But Howard said his position has not altered and he believes it is inappropriate to have a formal apology or treaty.
"You make treaties with other countries, you don't make treaties with each other," he said in a radio interview.
"Just because somebody like myself does not support a formal apology or a treaty doesn't mean that I'm not very strongly committed to reconciliation," he said.
Howard said he is committed to recognizing the importance of symbolic gestures and practical reconciliation.
"I've always been very sympathetic to the cause of reconciliation," he stressed.
Howard added that people are beginning to realize there are many paths to reconciliation, rather than an attitude that the only way to achieve it is through a formal apology.
"We're ending the year feeling more reconciled on this issue than we did at the beginning of the year and a number of things have contributed to that," Howard said.
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