All agree 'new beginning' was needed

Canberra: Thousands of Aborigines and other Australians hugged, sobbed or stood applauding yesterday as the country united for a new era in race relations.

In city plazas, gardens, schoolrooms and offices, millions were encouraged to pause as Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivered an apology for past injustices, including the forced removal of children, after a decade of conservative refusal.

"My heart feels like it is going to burst out of my chest," said Aboriginal state lawmaker Linda Burney in Sydney.

"I believe our country needs this to have happened so we can have a new beginning," said Melbourne resident Julia Bain, who watched Rudd's apology live on a huge television screen in the city's heart.

Aboriginal flags flew on major buildings, including Sydney's Harbour Bridge.

"After all this time it's finally happened and I'm here to support all those mothers who went through so much pain at having their children taken away," said Aborigine Evonne Goolagong-Cawley, who won Wimbledon titles in 1971 and 1980.

Malcolm Fraser, conservative prime minister from 1975 to 1983, said he saw "a new chapter for Australia," telling Sky television he wished he had apologised when in power.

Prominent indigenous leader Pat Dodson, considered the father of the push for reconciliation, said the government next needed to look at compensation for the victims of past policies.