Australian PM apologises for mistreatment for Aborigines

Australia’s Prime Minister John Howard said today he was sorry for the historical mistreatment of Aborigines, but was against a formal national apology because it could trigger compensation claims.

‘‘I am personally very sorry, and I have said this on numerous occasions, for injustices inflicted on any group of Australians in the past.

"What I have argued against is a formal national apology,’’ he said.

Howard said it was not right for modern Australians to apologise for things that were done by earlier generations and sanctioned by the law at the time.