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As Prime Minister-elect Kevin Rudd arrived in Canberra yesterday to begin setting up his new Government, signs emerged that one of his early challenges will be relations with indigenous Australians.
Even before he has named his Cabinet and been sworn into office, indigenous groups are demanding significant advances beyond Rudd's promise to apologise for past sufferings, including a review of predecessor John Howard's dramatic intervention in the Northern Territory.
Rudd yesterday identified indigenous Australia, and the gap in life expectancy between Aborigines and other Australians, as one of his key targets for the development of a more compassionate nation.
He is expected to announce his Cabinet today.
But as he held his first meetings in the Prime Minister's Office in Parliament House, Aborigines began making clear that they expected movement on development and reconciliation.
Rudd had earlier promised an apology some time in his first term, supported Howard's intention to hold a referendum on constitutional recognition for indigenous Australians and outlined a comprehensive plan for their economic advancement.
Indigenous life expectancy, education, employment, housing and income fall well below national averages, and rates of ill-health, disease, drug and alcohol dependency and early death are much higher.
During the election campaign Rudd promised a "new partnership" between his Administration and Aborigines, reducing reliance on government programmes and increasing the role of private enterprise.
This included new commercial uses of the 120 million hectares of land held by Aborigines across Australia, and partnerships between businesses such as miners, tourism operators, art co-operatives and local communities.
He also promised a new drive on education - including three new secondary boarding colleges in the Northern Territory - and to promote local businesses and employment.
But he has yet to say when he will issue his apology or whether he will use the word "sorry", and has made no further commitment to a constitutional referendum.
Howard's refusal to say "sorry" was a major barrier to reconciliation, and Aborigines expect a Labor Government not only to make the apology, but also to back it with action.
"Let us say farewell to the negativity of the past 11 years [of Howard's government]," the Stolen Generation Alliance said.
"On the day that the Federal Parliament says sorry, let it also be a community day of new beginnings, when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders can start to feel equal partners in this country."
But the alliance said words alone would not be enough and they needed to be matched by a programme aimed at healing, reparation and justice.
In Darwin, the Northern Territory's newly appointed Deputy Chief Minister and Indigenous Affairs Minister, Marion Scrymgour, warned Rudd that major changes were needed in the social, police and military intervention launched under national emergency laws last August.
Under the laws federal agencies took control of Aboriginal land and communities and imposed new policing, education, health and alcohol regimes.
The controversial intervention was supported by Rudd, who said during the election campaign he supported the action "without qualification" and would not roll it back if he won power.
Scrymgour, a Torres Strait Islander whose father was one of the Stolen Generation forcibly removed from his parents, said yesterday a new plan was needed to address indigenous intervention.
The intervention had caused widespread fear without addressing the key issue of horrific child abuse, the trigger for the action, she said.
