But Sydney is keen to redress the imbalance and celebrate the resilience of Indigenous Australians.

BBC: Sydney��s Aboriginal side

The move came on the fifth anniversary of the historic apology to indigenous Australians for past injustices.

BBC: Australia passes indigenous recognition bill

Indigenous Australians watching from the public galleries met the passage of the bill, which enjoyed bipartisan support, with applause.

BBC: Australia passes indigenous recognition bill

The voters rejected, in the same referendum, a new preamble for the constitution written by him which would have given constitutional recognition to indigenous Australians for the first time.

ECONOMIST: Australia mislays its republic

In April, his government outraged aborigines and many non-indigenous Australians by claiming that, because only 10% of aboriginal children had been involved, the stolen generation did not really exist.

ECONOMIST: A bridge to the aborigines | The

Australia is in the throes of a heated political debate on a question as old as European settlement there: the competition between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians over access to land.

ECONOMIST: The aboriginal patterns that haunt Australia | The

It was meant to be a new beginning, a chance for indigenous Australians to take charge of their own affairs. 10.24.55 Music 10.25.01 David Akinsanya Back in nineteen seventy-three, when Gail was a child, these streets in Redfern were bought by the progressive Labour government from slum landlords and handed over to the aboriginals to run their own way.

BBC

Mr Rudd says he hopes to close a 17-year gap in life-expectancy between indigenous people and other Australians.

ECONOMIST: An apology but no compensation

"I do believe the community is willing to embrace the justice of this campaign because Australians understand that indigenous culture and history are a source of pride for us all, " Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said.

BBC: Australia passes indigenous recognition bill