People don’t like the realisation that they’re irrelevant, but it is a rare person who can realise it, and then try to ingratiate themselves and kvetch at the same time. Liberal Brendan Nelson is just such a person.

The Opposition has offered in-principle support to an apology but is waiting to be fully briefed by the Prime Minister about the precise wording of the speech.

You know, I don’t really care whether this batch of Liberal wankers support The Apology or not. They blocked it until it looked like it was going to happen without them, and now they’re jumping on. Where were they before?

Wait, it gets better. Notice how, having contributed nothing to the whole “sorry” mess, Nelson gets pissy about not having been included.

Leader of Government Business in the Lower House, Anthony Albanese, says the wording of the apology will be released for all to see tomorrow.

But Dr Nelson has told Fairfax Radio he has not been told what is going on.

“This is all appearing chaotic. To the great credit [of] a lot of my colleagues we have decided in principle we will support this,” he said.

“But if Mr Rudd wants it to unify Australia, to bring our nation together, the most important person he should be negotiating with is me.“

“It’s very important that we actually sit down, we’re two days away from this for goodness sake.”

Me! It’s all about me! Only Dr Nelson and his precious feelings can heal this nation!

No, it’s about the people who have been wronged by the policy. It’s a bus, Dr Nelson. You missed it.

UPDATE: It never stops for Nelson.

Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson has been forced to defend his response to today’s stolen generations apology, in which he spoke of indigenous Australians “living lives of existential aimlessness”.

The Liberal leader provoked outrage among the thousands who gathered across the nation to watch the televised broadcast when he spoke of ”the seemingly intractable and disgraceful circumstances in which many indigenous Australians find themselves today”.

Across the country, people booed, hissed and shouted during Dr Nelson’s speech – with some going so far as to pull the plug on the televised broadcast.

In Melbourne, the 8000-strong crowd at Federation Square turned its back on the screen during Dr Nelson’s speech, amid chants of “get him off”.

In Perth, noise from the angry crowd that had gathered on the city’s Esplanade drowned out Dr Nelson’s words. A protester then cut the Liberal leader’s speech short by pulling the plug and causing a power failure.

In Canberra, many of those gathered outside Parliament House had either walked away or turned their backs by the end of his speech.

Some grew increasingly angry as Dr Nelson told Parliament: “Our generation does not own these actions, nor should it feel guilt for what was done in many, but certainly not all cases, with the best intentions.“

Members of the crowd jeered and yelled at Dr Nelson to “get off”, “go and learn history” and “get your hand off it Brendan”.

It gets worse if you read the full text. At first, the speech seems appropriate enough, but it eventually turns into partisan rancor…

Alcohol, welfare without responsibilities, isolation from the economic mainstream, corrupt management of resources, nepotism, political buck-passing between governments with divided responsibilities, lack of home ownership, under-policing and tolerance by authorities of neglect and abuse of children that violates all we stand for, all combine to still see too many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living lives of existential aimlessness.

defence of John Howard…

Sexual abuse of Aboriginal children was found in every one of the 45 Northern Territory communities surveyed for the Little Children are Sacred report. It was the straw breaking the camel’s back, driving the Howard government’s decision to intervene with a suite of dramatically radical welfare, health and policing initiatives.

cultural warfare…

Our generation has, over 35 years, overseen a system of welfare, alcohol delivery, administration of programs, episodic preoccupation with symbolism and excusing the inexcusable in the name of cultural sensitivity, to create what we now see in remote Aboriginal Australia.

… and, incredibly, defence of people that carried out the acts of kidnapping (with undertones of warning against giving the dole to those filthy undeserving poor).

Even when motivated by inherent humanity and decency to reach out to the dispossessed in extreme adversity, our actions can have unintended outcomes. As such, many decent Australians are hurt by accusations of theft in relation to their good intentions.

In future, when people tell us there’s really no difference between the two major political parties, let’s just remember this moment, shall we?

UPDATE 2: Unbelievable.

As Nelson rose to offer his apology to the Stolen Generations on behalf of his Opposition, the signs were already abroad that all was not roses. West Australian Liberal Wilson Tuckey had made great show of reciting louder than anyone the Lord’s Prayer at the beginning of the parliamentary session, and then had marched out of the chamber. He would have nothing to do with any apology. Nor would fellow West Australian Don Randall, who was absent, and Victorian Sophie Mirabella, also missing. Others shuffled paper and read throughout Rudd’s speech, and Peter Costello tapped on a laptop computer.

I

I got nothing.