Former Australian treasurer's reconciliation efforts thwarted
Updated
The former Australian treasurer, Peter Costello, has revealed that his plan for the entire cabinet to walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge for Aboriginal reconciliation was thwarted by other senior ministers.
An estimated, 200,000 people marched across the Harbour Bridge in May 2000 in support of reconciliation.
Mr Costello has told an ABC documentary on the Howard government, that it would have been a knock-out demonstration.
But he says others over-ruled him.
"I wanted to walk, there were others in the cabinet who didn't want to walk," he said.
"They saw this as empty symbolism, they saw it as a left wing agenda.
"It is symbolic but its what they're looking for a bit of symbolism and somebody said in the cabinet well we can't have some people walking and others not and I said if that's your view lets all walk, let's all go together."
