Cheers as Australia says sorry for treatment of Aborigines

Published on Wednesday 13 February 2008 09:10

AUSTRALIA apologised today for the mistreatment of Aborigines, moving indigenous people to tears as huge crowds cheered across the nation.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd led the parliamentary apology to members of the Stolen Generations of aborigines, who were forcibly taken from their families and communities when they were children under old assimilation policies.

A crowd of more than 7000 people gathered on the lawns outside the Australian parliament to watch as the apology was broadcast live to giant screens, with Aborigines and supporters cheering as Mr Rudd said "sorry".

"We apologise for the laws and policies of successive parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians," he said.

The parliamentary apology comes 11 years after a report found between one in three and one in ten aboriginal children had been taken from their families between 1910 and 1970.