While agreement between the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation and the Howard Government on the wording of the council's Declaration Towards Reconciliation was not achieved on May 27, there is no reason to accept the widely held view that such agreement must await a new prime minister. In fact, the declaration will enjoy greater community acceptance if endorsed by John Howard precisely because of his current discomfort with some of its words. I have been involved with another issue of terminology on which Howard demonstrated his willingness to change. Yet, when the National Multicultural Advisory Council recommended the continuation of multiculturalism both as a policy and a term, the government agreed without reservation. Howard launched our report with strong supportive comments.
Reconciliation is obviously much more complex than multiculturalism, but also a far higher priority.
So it is worth persevering. The difficulty stems from perceived implications, which the council probably never intended. Therefore, there might be resolution if such implications are explicitly excluded or qualified. My understanding of the PM's discomfort with an apology is the suggestion of inter-generational guilt and the implied acceptance of liabilities. However, the government's draft does acknowledge past injustices, so the gap may not be great.