Dr Nelson said that the new Labor Government had its priorities wrong in seeking to make a formal apology during the new session of Parliament, which begins a fortnight from today.

"Whatever the attitude of Australians towards this generation apologising for things done by earlier generations, you really have got to ask yourself is this the highest priority for the Australian Parliament?" he said.

Only days after winning the leadership of the Liberal Party, Dr Nelson said in December that he did not believe any formal apology was warranted.

"I do not support a formal apology by our generation on behalf of what was done with the best of intentions in most but not all cases by earlier generations," he told the ABC's Insiders program on December 2, adding that he wanted to check that "the written documentation" matched Government claims.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin said yesterday that the Government would ensure that comprehensive consultation was completed before the apology was precisely scheduled.

She had talked particularly with the National Sorry Day Committee and the Stolen Generations Alliance, which said yesterday that it was keen for the apology to take place soon.

The co-chair of the alliance, Christine King, said members were emotional about the prospect of an apology being made soon.

"Many of us didn't think this moment would come in our life-times..." she said.

"There is a sense of relief that Australia will finally take this step that has been so long in coming."

Dr Nelson called for different consultation and said it was more important to address Aboriginal economic and social disadvantage.

"I think the first thing we've got to do is actually consult and talk to Australians beyond the representatives of the Aboriginal groups " he said. "Let's just make sure we focus on the real issues that face Aboriginal people in our country and not lose sight of the fact that there are fair-dinkum everyday working Australians who are concerned about those issues, but they're also concerned about the cost of their homes, putting petrol in their car and buying food for their kids to put on the table."

Dr Nelson expressed concern that he had not been told of reported plans for the Ngunnawal people to welcome parliamentarians to their land before the delivery of the apology. "Whilst I think there is some merit in the idea of an appropriate and a sensitive welcome to Canberra from the traditional Aboriginal people and the representatives of the Ngunnawal, I'd like to think it will be within the standing orders and I'd also like to think it's something that we, the Liberal and National parties and the alternative government, have the opportunity to discuss with Mr Rudd," he said.

He would not be drawn on the prospect of compensation flowing from an apology. "The last thing I'm going to be talking about is money..." he said. "I know there are other people talking about it, there are some people behind the apology who are after money and there are some people who oppose the apology, who are worried that it will lead to compensation."

Shadow justice minister Chris Pyne said an apology at the opening of Parliament would be "mere symbolism".

"To the Labor Party it appears to be very important," he said. "The Liberal Party's view was that for 1112 years it was outcomes that were more important than symbolism."

The co-chair of the National Sorry Day Committee, Helen Moran, said that formally saying sorry brought "no need for blame or shame".

"If you look at the Howard government's program of directing and inciting fear into the Australian public over the last 11 years in relation to the apology, it's not surprising at all that there is a lack of understanding of what this exactly entails and what it means," she said in a television interview.

Beaten prime minister John Howard had used the issue as a political football and had "incited fear in many Australians regarding the apology and what it will mean to Australia".

The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies has opened a new online exhibition relating "the story of Aboriginal mourning amidst non-indigenous celebrations of the coming of the First Fleet". The exhibition commemorates "the 70th anniversary of the Day of Mourning and Protest", when Aboriginal civil-rights protesters met at Australian Hall, Sydney, on January 26, 1937 to draw attention to their plight.