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Canberra: Australia's apology to Aborigines next week will acknowledge past mistreatment such as seizing children from their parents and pledge such wrongs will never be repeated, according to a proposal released on Wednesday.
But Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is holding firm against demands by some Aboriginal leaders that compensation must accompany any official apology.
Rudd recently announced the first order of business when Parliament resumes next week - the first time since he was elected prime minister - will be to apologise for past polices of removing mostly mixed-blood Aboriginal children from their parents on the premise that Aborigines were a doomed race.
About 100,000 children were taken from Aboriginal mothers between 1910 and the 1970s.
Rudd met with opposition leader Brendan Nelson early on Wednesday to ask his Liberal Party to support a parliamentary motion for the apology on February 13. Nelson previously opposed apologising for mistakes made by former government officials.
Seven-point plan
Rudd also released seven proposed "points for inclusion" in the official apology.
"There will be an apology to the stolen generations, their descendants and families ... The apology to the stolen generations will recognise past mistreatment," the document said.
"It will include a commitment that the Parliament will act to ensure past wrongs are not repeated." However, the proposal reiterated Rudd's stance that the apology will not include any commitment to pay compensation.
Nelson took the document to a two-day meeting of opposition coalition lawmakers to decide on a position. He was not immediately available for comment on Wednesday.
Many commentators speculate Nelson will agree to back the apology because of strong support for it within his party.
Aborigines account for about 450,000 of the Australian population of 21 million. They are the poorest ethnic group in the country and are most likely to be jailed and unemployed.
They die on average 17 years younger than other Australians.
A national inquiry found in 1997 that many children taken from their families suffered long-term psychological effects from the loss of family and culture, and recommended that Parliament apologise.
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