CANBERRA—Tears, applause and cries of "thank you, Prime Minister" rang out in parliament today as Kevin Rudd delivered an historic apology to Australia's indigenous peoples.
With the public gallery packed with hundreds of Aborigines and islanders, Mr Rudd apologised on behalf of the parliament and personally as Prime Minister for wrongs carried out by past generations.
Women wept and wiped their eyes throughout Mr Rudd's 30-minute speech, which came more than a decade after the Bringing Them Home report recommended apologising to the stolen generation.
Four of the five living former Prime Ministers - Gough Whitlam, Malcolm Fraser, Bob Hawke and Paul Keating - were seated on the floor of the House of Representatives chamber for the speech.
But John Howard, who stubbornly refused to offer an apology throughout his 11 years in office, stayed away - as did at least three coalition MPs.
Maverick West Australian Liberal Wilson Tuckey loudly recited the "Our Father" with his fellow MPs as parliament opened for the day - then pointedly walked out as Mr Rudd rose to his feet.
Fellow West Australian Don Randall and Victorian Sophie Mirabella were absent, while former deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaile and independent Queenslander Bob Katter arrived late.
Another opposition backbencher, Chris Pearce, flicked through a magazine and read from papers throughout the speeches by both Mr Rudd and Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson.
And when the galleries and his fellow MPs rose in a spontaneous standing ovation at the end of Mr Rudd's speech, Mr Pearce remained sitting.
Other than that, it was a bipartisan show of support for a new move forward in indigenous relations.
Inside parliament, Dr Nelson also received a standing ovation, albeit much shorter than Mr Rudd's.
But in the Great Hall and at live venues around the country, audience members booed and turned their backs on Dr Nelson as he began talking about alcoholism, corruption, nepotism, domestic violence and child abuse within indigenous communities.
Earlier, Dr Nelson had choked as he spoke of his own father's pain at being taken away from his unmarried teenage mother as a newborn.
But stolen generation members were angry that he used his speech to justify the Howard government's intervention in Northern Territory communities.
"He brought up all the hurt that's happened and we don't want to hear about it. We've heard about, read about it, we want to put that behind us now," Chris Nelson from Woy Woy, NSW, said.
Inside parliament, the crowd was more polite but still clearly angered during the speech.
Afterwards, Dr Nelson, Mr Rudd and Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin walked over to the stolen generation representatives seated in chairs reserved for visiting dignitaries inside the chamber.
Mr Rudd hugged and kissed the group, who included Lowitja O'Donohue, who was founding Chairwoman of the defunct Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, and Nanna Nungala Fejo, whose story was used to illustrate the need for an apology.
Rounded up and taken from her mother as a child, Mrs Fejo was later separated from her brothers and sisters and never saw her mother again.
"I asked Nanna Fejo what she would have me say today about her story," Mr Rudd told parliament.
"She thought for a few moments then said that what I should say today was that all mothers are important.
"And she added: Families - keeping them together is very important. It's a good thing that you are surrounded by love and that love is passed down the generations. That's what gives you happiness."
Many of the audience - some of whom remember being taken from their families, others who discovered as recently as five years ago that they had been removed as babies - dabbed at their eyes as Mr Rudd marvelled at their capacity to forgive.
After inviting Dr Nelson to co-chair a war cabinet with him on improving Aboriginal education and housing, Mr Rudd and the opposition leader walked together to hand over a gift from the stolen generation - an ornamental glass coolamon - to Speaker Harry Jenkins.
A coolamon is a traditional Aboriginal vessel used for carrying food, water and even babies.
Indigenous leaders hope the glass piece will take its place beside the ceremonial mace on the table which separates government and opposition MPs in parliament.
Key facts about Australia's Stolen Generations
Key facts and dates about Australia's Stolen Generations of Aborigines, the name given to indigenous children forcibly removed from their families under old assimilation policies.
* 1980s - Academic Peter Read researches the history of forced separation policies dating back to the mid-1800s, and names those affected as the "Stolen Generations".
* 1995 - The "Bringing Them Home" national inquiry is set up into the separation of aboriginal children from their families.
* 1997 - The "Bringing Them Home" report is tabled in the Australian parliament. It found:
- Between one in three and one in 10 indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families and communities between 1910 and 1970.
- The children were at risk of physical and sexual abuse in institutions, church missions and foster homes.
- The policies amounted to genocide under international law, and the laws were racially discriminatory.
- It recommended a national apology, compensation for the Stolen Generations, and guarantees the policies would not be repeated.
* 1997 - The state parliaments of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania, as well as the Australian Capital Territory, apologise to the Stolen Generations.
- Queensland's parliament apologised in 1999, and the Northern Territory parliament in 2001.
* 1999 - Conservative Prime Minister John Howard leads a parliamentary motion of "regret" for unspecified past injustices against Aborigines, but refuses to apologise. He says an apology could leave the government liable for compensation claims, and current generations should not be responsible for past actions.
* 2000 - More than 250,000 people march across Sydney Harbour Bridge to support an apology. Tens of thousands of people attend similar marches across Australia. Prime Minister John Howard does not march.
* 2006 - Tasmanian government sets up A$5 million ($4.5 million) fund to compensate Tasmanian Aborigines who were removed from their families.
* 2007 - The conservative government in June sends police and troops to the Northern Territory to curb alcohol-related violence and sex abuse in Aboriginal communities, prompting indigenous fears that children could be taken away.
- In August, a court makes a landmark damages award of A$525,000 to Aborigine Bruce Trevorrow. He was taken from his mother without her consent when he was 13 months old and did not see her for a decade.
* 2008, Feb. 13 - Australian Parliament apologises for historic mistreatment of Aborigines.
Reuters