Bill Heffernan, parliamentary secretary to cabinet, said he believed the government was close to finding a form of words to fulfill a long-standing aboriginal demand for an apology.

Howard has long rejected demands for an apology, saying his conservative liberal national coalition was not responsible for the actions of earlier governments. Many commentators believe Howard's stand is motivated by fear of compensation claims.

``I think the Prime Minister has come a long way on this issue and is certainly keen to see a solution,'' Heffernan told Australian broadcasting corporation radio on Monday.

Australia's 386,000 aborigines represent 2.1 percent of the population, but are the most disadvantaged with a life expectancy almost 20 years less than the rest of thepopulation.

Under an assimilation policy which existed between the 1860s and 1960s, tens of thousands of mixed blood aboriginal children were removed from their parents and raised as white Australians.

A 1997 Australian Human Rights Commission report found that the policy was a form of ``genocide'' and the so-called ``stolen generation'' victims should be compensated.

Heffernan said he was confident that Howard could work with Australian democrats minor party senator Aden Ridgeway, the only aborigine in parliament, to find a solution.

``I would have thought that, with the assistance of Aden Ridgeway and others, the government and the Prime Minister will look to see some form of words in parliament that may put to bed this issue,'' he said.

Ridgeway, elected to parliament in last year's poll, will make his maiden speech in parliament on Wednesday after taking up his seat on July 1. He is expected to announce a proposed form of words for a parliamentary apology.