Australia’s apology to Aborigines comes too late and has no meaning now. Even, as far as the Aborigines are concerned, I think, the apology seems to be material in nature – no apology can wash away the past, what’s done is done. The point is, it all seems like a “forced realization and acceptance” by the government. If it would have been real, the people as whole should have come together long back. Who’ll believe it as a balm over the past genocidal policies? It’s a sham!

Leaving the things hidden or avoiding or refusing to apologise was not better way to deal with it. It would have caused more antagonism for everyone in the government.

Making apology will not make any difference, the Australian government will have to make aboriginal people feel safe and secure in the country.

Just like Australia, Canada also needs to formulate a plan because this country did the same thing to our people in 'residential schools'.Children were taken away from their families and forced to live in places where they were molested, starved and beaten, not allowed to speak their native language by the dominant WHITE. the generational mess we have created makes my blood boil.

Read here for the Timeline of Australia's Aborigines' history.

Aborigines are living in hell and hey don't need apology but healing touch. More than 460,000 in numbers, they make up 2 per cent of the total population of 21 million but they live for 17 years less than white Australians do. They are fighting with higher rates of unemployment, imprisonment, alcohol and drug abuse and domestic violence since long and now they have got apology...

This is a beginning of new era in Australian society.

I hope the apology is only part of an overall plan to undo the wrongs and give Aborigines encouragement to live life with dignity. Australia has in fact offered what the imperialist UK will never do. Even they deserve an apology to all the commonwealth members for crimes that are as grave as the Nazi's.

i am glad that Australia has come up with a message of love when its love in the air. Happy Valentine's Day...

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has done Good. This is welcome step.

The first step towards a solution of the problem is to identify the problem. Rudd has done the half job and looking firm to complete rest of the job soon. Congratulations to Rudd for taking a step in the right direction.

What I think that Australia delayed in making apology for all the wrongs that they have done to the aborigine people there. Announcing compensation should be there with apology for people and their families who suffered a lot.

The Australian government should draft a legislation to recreate the Aboriginal people’s culture for giving their cultural identity back to them. There is need to create job schemes and convince industrialists to invest in small businesses based in the region dominated by Aborigine communities. Granting easy funds would not solve the problem. .

There is need to create another debate - Who started the mistreatment of the ab-original population of Australia? Who forced the aboriginal population in Australia to live lives in full of indignity and degradation? It was the Britain who should take blame for doing such inhuman act in Australia.

The Apology is not everything. It can't do everything with the basic evils of the laws and policies that drove British colonial rule to do such wrongs initiated in the 19th century. Helping attitude of Australian government should become visible now.

Saying sorry to the Indigenous people was important. We can hope now that they would get on with their lives and become part of the society.

Offering apology in Parliament does not end the issue. Being an Indian, I have not idea in detail how much the matter has affected Australian politics of late, but all I can say that it shouldn’t have affected it at all as it did.

An empty sorry is a national disgrace as Indian PM Manmohan Singh had offered apology for the mass murder of Sikhs in 1984. here is another example of empty sorry in Australia.

Yes, ‘sorry’ is the right word indeed. Isn’t it? Just commit the brutality, kill people and the end say sorry, and that’s all. Isn’t it giving freedom to culprits who have potential weapon “sorry” to say? US Congress approved “Armenian ’genocide” resolution, Japan owes apology to “Comfort Girls”, and now Australia owes apology to Aborigines as if it’ll heal the wounds. Yeah sorry for something wrong committed unknowingly, unintentionally, but for such abhorred deeds committed knowingly, sorry is an abuse to humanity. If saying sorry will do the things right, then I argue in favor, but it hardly makes a difference, sorry to say. If apology is the end result, then the 9/11 conspirators should be given a chance to say sorry. Do something substantial to bridge the difference or else stop abusing humanity.

Australia’s apology is like saying sorry after killing someone. This is typical of the western world. By western I mean European and white.. I may sound racist but then that is the fact.
Consider this: Whereever the white man has set foot, he has plundered the natural resources, divided people on the basis of caste, religion, physical features (Rwanda) and left the place after destroying peace for ever.
In Europe jewish children were taken away from families and brought up as christians. In America thousands of native Americans were mercilessly murdered. We all know about the World War II crimes against jews by Germans. In Rwanda the whites were responsible to divide the locals on basis of their looks, the fighting rages on even today.
The British divided India and separated Pakistan and Bangladesh thus creating a hostile neighbourhood for our country. The results of this can be seen in the terrorist activities and communal riots which take place frequently.
But they have the knack of public relations with which they cover up their crimes of barbarism and portray themselves as great civilisations.
So in my opinion Australia’s apology is simply a farce. If those hypocritical whites really feel bad about what they have done, then they should simply pack their bags and go back where they came from (Europe, mostly from Britain) and leave the land of Aborigines to them.

Yes, it does. Actually the historical atrocities, plundering of Aborigine lands and striking deep into their spiritual beliefs, making skewed laws in favour of the settlers and descendant of the transported criminals cannot be undone.

At least, now they acknowledged it and we can hope that things would be better for them in the future. It is actually getting better for them in the last 2 decades or so. Still, much is needed to be done.