``His has been a government of utter black-bashing,'' said prominent Aboriginal activist Mick Dodson. ``I don't think he's got any idea. I simply don't trust him. How can you have reconciliation with someone like him, who spent most of the time in his first term constantly on the attack on Aboriginal people?''

Since his re-election on October 3 Howard has made social issues, including reconciliation, a priority for his government, but late Thursday he again ruled out apologising for the so-called stolen generation of Aboriginal children.

He told ABC television it was common sense rather than fear of legal repercussions that stopped him from saying sorry on behalf of Australia for past assimilation policies of removing hundreds of thousands of Aboriginal children from theirfamilies for a century up to the late 1960s.

Many still bear the scars of the physical, sexual and psychological abuse which a Human Rights Commission report found they suffered in the white institutions and foster homes they were sent to.

``It's not so much the fear of compensation claims that constrains me on that,'' he said. ``I have a very genuine belief that you express collective regret for things for which you are collectively, in a direct sense, responsible.''

Dodson's brother, Pat, a former chair of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation, joined the attack, saying it was hard not to be cynical and he was less confident now of reconciliation being achieved.

He said Aboriginal people wanted to move forward but an apology was a fundamental requirement and could not be side-stepped. ``There's got to be a clear recognition of what this country has done to the indigenous people,'' he said on national radio.

``That's non-negotiable. If he as prime minister can't do it then the country is goingto have to get another prime minister.'' The National Indigenous Working Group said by ruling out an apology Howard had already shut Aborigines out of the process of reaching a reconciliation compromise.

``I hope he is genuine, but to have a dialogue you have to also listen,'' coordinator Olga Havnen said. ``You can't just set the parameters and tell indigenous people to accept them.''