Aborigines greeted Prime Minister John Howard's surprise plan to give constitutional recognition to Australia's indigenous people with mixed views yesterday, with many calling it a stunt ahead of coming elections.
Howard, who has been at loggerheads with indigenous leaders on many issues during his more than 11 years in power, made an abrupt about-face on Thursday, admitting past mistakes and offering a new plan for reconciliation between black and white Australians.
Howard said he would hold a referendum that would ask Australians to enshrine Aborigines in the constitution as the original inhabitants of the country. If successful, the change would not give Aborigines greater rights but would be powerfully symbolic.
Howard said the referendum would be held within 18 months if he is returned to power at elections. He is widely expected to call elections within days, but opinion polls show he will struggle to win them.
Critics said Howard's conversion to the reconciliation cause was too little, too late and appeared to be an election ploy.
"Mr. Howard's actions over 11 years belie his words," said David Ross, the director of the Central Land Council that represents Aborigines in part of the Outback Northern Territory. "When a snake sheds his skin, he has a shiny new skin, but he's still the same old snake, with the same old venom."
Aborigines are a minority of about 450,000 among Australia's 21 million people, and are the poorest and most disadvantaged group, with a life expectancy 20 years shorter than other Australians. While Aborigines form a tiny voting bloc, their plight is a national political issue that has divided liberal and conservative Australians.
Other Aboriginal leaders said Howard's move was a surprise, but he should be given credit for it, no matter what the timing.
"I think that it's a big shift for him, but this is about the nation's reconciliation, it's not about John Howard's reconciliation," Pat Dodson, a former reconciliation commissioner, said on ABC radio. "I think it's a positive contribution to the process."
Howard again ruled out making an official apology to Aborigines for past wrongs -- something he conceded had helped stall relations between his government and indigenous people in the past.
"He has got a problem with that five letter word called sorry, and he really needs to come out and make a proper apology to indigenous people," Aboriginal leader John Ah Kit told ABC radio.
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