A woman has been appointed for the first time to what is officially Australia’s highest office: governor general, the British monarch’s representative in the country.

Australia’s Parliament would apologise to Aborigines for “profound grief” and “the indignity and degradation” caused by the policies of past governments, under a motion proposed today by the prime minister.

AUSTRALIA’S new prime minister Kevin Rudd took the oath of office yesterday and immediately signed documents to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, ending his country’s decade of opposition to the global climate agreement.

A former military officer and decorated war hero was sworn in today as the Queen’s new representative in Australia.