Aborigines overturned hundreds of years of British tradition in Australia today by taking part in the official opening of the nation's new parliamentary session.
Aboriginal elder Matilda House, standing barefoot and wearing a coat of animal skins, delivered a traditional message stick to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd yesterday to mark the first sitting of parliament since Mr Rudd's Labour Party won power in last November's elections.
"With this welcome comes a great symbolism, the hope of a united nation through reconciliation," Ms House told the politicians and guests in a crowded Members Hall.
The welcome was followed by traditional dances from Aborigines, some carrying boomerangs, and indigenous Torres Strait Islanders.
The ceremony came a day before Mr Rudd is due to deliver an historic apology to Aborigines for past assimilation policies, in which aboriginal children were taken from their families to be raised in white households.
Australia gained independence from Britain in 1901 but retained Britain's Westminster parliamentary traditions that date back hundreds of years.
Governor-General Michael Jeffery, who represents the British queen under Australia's constitution, later opened the 42nd parliamentary session with a speech outlining Mr Rudd's agenda for the next three years.
Mr Jeffery said the Rudd government would work to end indigenous disadvantage and halve the 17-year gap in life expectancy between Aborigines and other Australians within a generation, as well as help heal racial divisions in Australia.