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Still no apology Freeman's win won't change government's position
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) -- Cathy Freeman's gold-medal run in the Olympics will not pressure the federal government to apologize to the "stolen generation" of Aborigines, a cabinet minister said Thursday. Freeman, whose grandmother was removed from her family as a child, has criticized the government's refusal to say sorry. Asked whether Freeman's heightened Olympic profile, including a win the women's 400 meters, would increase pressure on the government, Reconciliation Minister Philip Ruddock told Australian Broadcasting Corp., radio: "I don't think it changes the issues at all. "But the point I would make is that Cathy is a great example to other young people about what can be done, what can be achieved, and is an outstanding role model for all Australians, but particularly for indigenous Australians." From 1910 until the 1970s, authorities placed about 100,000 Aboriginal children in the care of white families. State and federal law declared it was humane to save children of a doomed race. Ruddock said Freeman's run showed Australia was an inclusive society in which all are able to participate fully. "It's regrettable that in the past that's not always been possible for indigenous Australians," he said. "What we have been seeking to do is to have through the reconciliation process a unifying approach to Australia in which Aboriginal self-esteem is lifted, that there are role models that people can follow, and I think Cathy Freeman exemplifies all of that." Many Aborigines say it is not possible to achieve reconciliation until conservative Prime Minister John Howard offers a formal apology for past government injustices -- something he has refused to do. Australia's original inhabitants, Aborigines number about 360,000 of a total population of 19 million people. After 212 years of white settlement, Aborigines have a life expectancy 20 years shorter than the rest of society and are the community's poorest, least educated and most jailed people.
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