which had separated children from parents on racial grounds. The Howard Government moved in response to draft a Motion of Reconciliation to be delivered by the Australian Parliament. Prime Minister John Howard drafted the wording in consultation with Democrat Senator Aden Ridgeway, the only Aboriginal person then sitting in the federal parliament. On Thursday 26 August 1999, John Howard, moved the Motion of Reconciliation, which expressed "deep and sincere regret that indigenous Australians suffered injustices under the practices of past generations, and for the hurt and trauma that many indigenous people continue to feel as a consequence of those practices". It dedicated the Parliament to the "cause of reconciliation" and recognised the historic mistreatment of Indigenous Australians as the "most blemished chapter" in Australian history. The opposition leader Kim Beazley moved to replace Howard's motion of regret with an unreserved apology, but was unsuccessful. The National Apology On 11 December 2007, the newly elected government of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced that an official apology would be made to Indigenous Australians. The wording of the apology would be decided in consultation with Indigenous leaders. On 13 February 2008, at 9:00am (AEDT), Rudd tabled the following apology as the first order of business at the opening of Australia's Parliament in 2008; it was passed unanimously by the members of the lower house at 9:57 a.m.: Western Australia On 27 May 1997, the Western Australian Premier, Richard Court, issued a parliamentary statement using the words: "It is appropriate that this House show respect for Aboriginal families that have been forcibly separated as a consequence of government policy in the past, by observing a period of silence". Members stood for one minute silence. The next day the leader of the Western Australian opposition moved: "that this House apologises to the Aboriginal people on behalf of all Western Australians for the past policies under which Aboriginal children were removed from their families and expresses deep regret at the hurt and distress that this caused". South Australia On 28 May 1997, the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Dean Brown, issued a parliamentary apology on behalf of the people of South Australia, saying that the "South Australian Parliament expresses its deep and sincere regret at the forced separation of some Aboriginal children from their families and homes which occurred prior to 1964, apologises to these Aboriginal people for these past actions and reaffirms its support for reconciliation