John Howard, the Australian Prime Minister, promised yesterday to hold a referendum to recognise Aborigines in the Constitution in a dramatic policy shift weeks before going to the polls.

Mr Howard, who is expected to call a general election by the end of the month, said that if returned to office he would give Australians a say on whether formally to acknowledge that Aboriginal people were the first settlers in the land.

Having long refused an apology to Aborigines for their harsh treatment by white settlers, he hinted that he had doubts about his past handling of the issue.

In a speech to the Sydney Institute, a conservative think-tank, the Prime Minister said that he would like the Constitution to include “a statement of reconciliation” with the Aboriginal people, who have long claimed to have been victims of atrocities, including massacres, by white settlers. “I’m the first to admit that this whole area is one I have struggled with during the entire time that I have been Prime Minister,” he said.

However, Mr Howard reiterated that he did not believe a national apology was warranted. He said that an apology would “only reinforce a culture of victimhood and take us backwards”.

He said that his proposal for the recognition of Aborigines within the Constitution would enshrine their special place in Australia and record their right to preserve their heritage.

The Prime Minister’s initiative took observers by surprise because in his more than ten years in office he has shown little enthusiasm for engaging with Aboriginal Australia. He has accused academics and others who have pleaded for a formal apology as having “a black armband” view of history.

Early in his term as Prime Minister he was snubbed by Aboriginal leaders, who turned their backs to him when he addressed them.

Three months ago Mr Howard began a takeover of the most remote and troubled desert Aboriginal communities when he sent troops, police and doctors into the Outback, saying that the nation could no longer stand by while violence, sexual abuse of children and alcoholism remained entrenched within some communities.

While the intervention has been strongly criticised by some Aboriginal leaders as marking a return to the days of white supremacy, it has been mostly supported by the hundreds of doctors who have volunteered to examine every Aboriginal child.

Aborigines are the most underprivileged Australians, with a life expectancy about 17 years lower than for other Australians and infant mortality rates about three times that of the non-Aboriginal population.

The Government’s highly publicised intervention into remote communities has elevated Aboriginal issues on the cusp of the general campaign. But Aboriginal leaders appeared unimpressed with Mr Howard’s initiative.

Olga Havnen, spokeswoman for Combined Aboriginal Organisations, said that Mr Howard’s new focus on symbolism would not achieve much for Aboriginal people. “Howard, when he first came into office, completely castigated us for wanting things that he criticised as being merely symbolic,” she said.

John Ah Kit, the Northern Territory indigenous leader and a former local government minister, said that if Mr Howard truly wanted to reconcile he must apologise.

“He’s got a problem with that five-letter word called ‘sorry’ and he really needs to come out and make a proper apology to indigenous people in this country,” he said.

A raw deal

21: median age of Aborigines, compared with 36 for rest of population

3: times as likely to be unemployed

59: life expectancy of Aboriginal men, 64 for women, compared with 77 and 82 for rest of population

40%: lower household income than rest of the population

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics

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