Australia:Australia's prime minister Kevin Rudd will today use the word "sorry" three times in apologising to the "stolen generations" of Aboriginal children taken from their families between 1890 and 1960.
The 361-word apology was made public last night ahead of being delivered in parliament today.
"For the pain, suffering and hurt of these stolen generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry," the text reads. "To the mothers and fathers, the brothers and sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry, and for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry."
The apology comes 11 years after the release of Bringing Them Home, the landmark report into the stolen generations. The report had been commissioned by the former Labor prime minister Paul Keating but he had lost power before it was published.
His successor, Liberal prime minister John Howard, consistently refused to apologise to the stolen generations. He lost his own seat and his party lost power in Australia's federal election last November. Mr Rudd's apology is the first act of the new Labor government.
The members hall at Parliament House was packed yesterday morning for a "welcome to country ceremony" carried out by Indigenous Australians, the first time a parliamentary session has begun with a traditional ceremony.
Several thousand Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders were gathering in Canberra last night to hear the apology for which they have waited so long.
Chris Graham, editor of the National Indigenous Timesnewspaper, is among those in the capital. "Busloads of blackfellas just keep arriving and barely a plane touches down without a dozen black feet on board," he said.
"There is a sense of pride I have never seen before in Canberra, let alone in Indigenous affairs. The mood feels like a celebration, although of course it's no such thing. Wednesday's events are solemn - they will open old wounds in old people."
The apology looks to a future where government resolves the injustices of the past must never happen again, "a future where we harness the determination of all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to close the gap that lies between us in life expectancy, educational achievement and economic opportunity, a future where all Australians, whatever their origins, are truly equal partners, with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in shaping the next chapter in the history of this great country."
Though Mr Rudd said no compensation would be offered, Aboriginal activist Michael Mansell told ABC radio the language used could open the door for members of the stolen generations to be compensated.
Opposition parties have confirmed their bipartisan support for the apology, though the Greens will try to amend the motion to include compensation.