We have a prime minister, I'm the foreign minister, I'm trying to get on with the job of doing Australia's foreign policy.

We have a prime minister, I'm the foreign minister, I'm trying to get on with the job of doing Australia's foreign policy.

The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia's history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future. We apologise for the laws and policies of successive parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.

Mr Howard's problem is for so long he's been a climate change sceptic, how can he, therefore, put himself to the country as part of a climate change solution for the future.

As nations we should also commit afresh to righting past wrongs. In Australia we began this recently with the first Australians - the oldest continuing culture in human history. On behalf of the Australian Parliament, this year I offered an apology to indigenous Australians for the wrongs they had suffered in the past.

Australians are a passionate lot. We are also a very practical lot.

I am deeply committed to the cause of Indigenous Australians, and not just because of the Apology, but the big challenges which lie ahead in closing the gap.