The Howard government rejected an apology to Indigenous Australians on the grounds "it could imply that present generations are in some way responsible and accountable for the actions of earlier generations".
The reasoning is laid out in 2002 cabinet papers released by the National Archives of Australia.
In September 2002, the cabinet agreed to a response to the final report of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation, entitled Reconciliation: Australia's Challenge.
The cabinet was generally supportive of removing section 25 of the constitution - relating to races disqualified from voting - because it no longer had practical effect.
It also endorsed the idea of formally acknowledging Indigenous people at certain events such as citizenship ceremonies.
But the cabinet rejected the idea of an apology, which was later delivered by Kevin Rudd.
Calls for a treaty were also rejected on the grounds "to pursue such negotiations would be divisive, contrary to the concept of Australia as a single nation, could create legal uncertainty, and ... not solve the critical issues facing Indigenous Australians such as social and economic disadvantage".
The response to the formalisation of Indigenous rights through a bill of rights or constitutional change was also given the thumbs down.
"The best guarantee of fundamental human rights is Australia's vigorous and open political system, an incorruptible judicial system and a free press," the cabinet minute noted.
A referendum question on recognising Indigenous people in a preamble to the constitution was put to a vote and lost in 1999.
The cabinet papers also record a decision in July 2002 to review the operations of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, with a submission by the then minister Philip Ruddock noting the agency saw itself as more of an advocacy body than delivering services.
"There is considerable debate within the organisation about whether ATSIC should be in the business of delivering programmes at all," the minister's cabinet submission said.
It also noted a "difficult" tension between the commission and the minister.
The organisation was set up in 1990 under Labor to represent Indigenous Australians and give them an effective voice within government.
By 2002, almost half of the $2.5 billion in federal Indigenous-related spending was controlled by the commission, but there were serious policy differences between it and the minister.
As well, its elections were seen not to be representative, with as few as 22 per cent of eligible voters casting their ballots in 1999.
The body was abolished in 2004 after a scandal involving chairperson Geoff Clark.
