Yes I could easily believe that. It's common knowledge that they thought the 'coloured' races were inferior back then. As for the missionaries, they might have held similar views too but thought they were doing the right thing by helping the heathen savages. Thankfully we've moved on from that kind of thinking now.
Look, I don't begrudge them this apology - there seemed to be a lot of happy faces there yesterday (except when Nelson was speaking) - but I'm sceptical about what real good it's going to bring. I'm also cynical about Rudd's motivations. He is a politician after all.