Senior MPs to Kevin Rudd: apology 'dangerous'

KEVIN Rudd has revealed that he was advised by government MPs and Labor Party officials to consider not giving the apology speech.

KEVIN Rudd has revealed that he was advised by senior government MPs and Labor Party officials to consider not giving the apology speech to the Stolen Generations.

The former prime minister said the "political smart class around town" advised him that to deliver the apology in February 2008 was "very dangerous". But if he insisted on delivering the speech, he was told to "get it done, get it done quickly and get it over with".

The frank interview with Mr Rudd was conducted in October 2010, just months after he lost the prime ministership, and is included in a new collection of political speeches. He says that from the "political smart class", whom he characterises as government and party figures, "there was a view that this was just a problem".

Labor sources confirmed there were discussions in Mr Rudd's office to assess the political impact and timing of the apology.

As opposition leader, Mr Rudd pledged to deliver an apology in government. But he says he did not have a "final view" on what the political impact would be.

"I personally went into the business of writing (the speech) having no idea whatsoever what its political impact would be -- none -- positive or negative," he says in the new book.

"On balance, given the debate in the country over the previous decade, I thought it would be, on balance, negative. But I had no final view."

The issue of the apology was subject to rigorous debate in the 1990s and 2000s. In June 1997, Newspoll recorded 50 per cent support for an apology and 40 per cent opposed. In June 2000, 45 per cent of Australians were in favour of an apology and 37 per cent against.

After Mr Rudd delivered the apology, Newspoll recorded strong support for it: 69 per cent in support and 26 per cent against.

In the mid-1990s, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission conducted an inquiry into the forced separation of indigenous children from their families.

In 1996, Bob Carr, then NSW premier, became the first head of government to give a formal apology. In 1997, after HREOC reported, John Howard refused to offer a formal apology. Kim Beazley, then opposition leader, advocated an apology and delivered one on behalf of the Labor Party.

Mr Rudd's apology speech was delivered in the presence of former prime ministers Paul Keating, Bob Hawke, Malcolm Fraser and Gough Whitlam. Mr Howard did not attend. Mr Rudd says Mr Howard's non-attendance was a "sad" moment for the nation.

Troy Bramston's For The True Believers: Great Labor Speeches That Shaped History will be launched next week.