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Australia will issue its first formal apology for past mistreatment to the country's Aboriginal¹ people early next month. The new Labor² government says the move will be an important milestone³ in Australia's race relations.

澳大利亚将于2月向澳大利亚原住民过去遭受的欺辱首次做出正式道歉。新的工党政府说，这将是澳大利亚种族关系史上的一个重要里程碑。

The apology by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will be the first act of the new government when the Australian parliament reopens in Canberra on February 13. The comments will acknowledge injustices⁴ suffered by Aborigines in the years after European colonization⁵ began in the late 1700's.

澳大利亚新国会将于2月13号在堪培拉重开会期。届时，新政府的首项行动将是总理陆克文向原住民作出道歉。这将承认欧洲人自1700年代末期开始在澳大利亚殖民后多年来向原住民施加的不公正待遇。

The apology will include a reference to the so-called "Stolen Generations." These were young Aborigines taken forcibly from their families by the authorities and placed in foster homes. It was an official attempt to dilute⁶ indigenous⁷ culture, and the practice persisted from 1910 until the 1970's. One-hundred thousand children were affected⁸.

道歉内容将提到“被偷走的一代”。当年，澳大利亚当局把年幼的原住民子女从亲生父母的手中强行带走，交给白人家庭抚养。从1910年至1970年代，澳大利亚官方企图实行消除原住民文化的同化政策，有大约10万儿童遭受劫难。

Members of the "Stolen Generations" have said that being taken from their families amounted to kidnap, from which they suffered great trauma⁹.

Senior officials say the apology will not attribute guilt¹⁰ to the current generation of Australian people, nor will it offer compensation.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin says the time is right to say sorry.

"The new government is committed to a formal apology to the Stolen Generations, and I've been consulting widely about the nature of the apology," she said. "We do see this as a very, very important issue for the new government. We want to get it right, we want to do it respectfully."

她说：“新政府决心要对被偷走的一代人做出正式道歉，我一直在就道歉的性质进行了广泛咨询。我们确认，这对新政府是一项非常重要的议题。我们希望正确行事，我们想谦恭地道歉。”

Aboriginal leaders have said they would welcome a formal apology as a start toward healing the wounds of the past.

原住民领导人说，他们欢迎政府作出正式道歉，把这当成是愈合过去伤口的一个开端。

Australia's Aborigines make up about two percent of the population of 21 million. They suffer disadvantages at almost every turn, and endure disproportionately high rates of ill-health, unemployment and imprisonment¹¹.

在澳大利亚2千1百万人口中原住民占大约2%。他们的人生几乎每一阶段都处于不利地位，患病、失业和监禁的人数大大高于他们的人口比例。

Australia's new government has said Aboriginal health and welfare is a priority, and the government is considering programs to close the gap in life expectancy¹² between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians, which currently stands at about 17 years.

目前，澳大利亚原住民的平均寿命要比非原住民短17年左右。澳大利亚新政府说，原住民的保健和福利是他们的首要任务，他们在考虑开展项目，缩小平均寿命的差别。