Prime Minister Scott Morrison has called for unity over celebrations for Australia Day and respect for all stories, First Nations and the immigration waves that followed.
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Olympic gold medallist Cathy Freeman joined a chorus of Indigenous criticism directed at comments by Mr Morrison comparing the great suffering that befell First Nations people following the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788 to the discomforts experienced by convicts onboard.
"You can't compare the experiences of those 12 ships that first arrived to this country to what their arrival meant for all generations of Australia's First Nations people!," the athletics legend tweeted on Friday.
Mr Morrison denied it was his intention to draw an equivalence.
"Australia is more than 25 million stories, and each of us here can trace our own stories back into our experience in Australia - Indigenous Australians, First Nations people also, all the stories are important," Mr Morrison told reporters on Friday.
"All the stories should be respected. They're not competing with each other, they're just part of who we are."
Mr Morrison enflamed tensions with his First Fleet comparison while telling Cricket Australia to stick to games, not politics, over its decision to not brand its Big Bash League on January 26 as an Australia Day event, but rather in a way that was more inclusive.
Indigenous sporting figures including Anthony Mundine and cricketer Dan Christian have voiced their support for the planned changes to the games.
Mr Christian tweeted that the Prime Minister should "read the room", as millions of kids will be watching the games and "they'll see us taking a knee against racism, and promoting inclusion for all".
Protests are planned around Australia on January 26 to change the official date of national celebration, which is seen by many as a day of mourning.
The protests have attracted concern from health and policing officials over whether they will comply with health directives.
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said Australia didn't want to see an outbreak, particularly amongst Indigenous Australians.
"They need to do it peacefully and people need to abide by the health directions," Mr Dutton said.
"A lot of us have put in a lot of work over the course of this last 12 months to make sure that Indigenous Australians are protected from the virus."
Harley Dennett
Former federal politics bureau chief for the Canberra Times, via a career that's taken me from rural Victoria to Washington DC. Telling the stories of my local LGBTI community brought me to political journalism, where I've covered eight budgets, four national elections in two countries, Defence, public service and international governance.
Former federal politics bureau chief for the Canberra Times, via a career that's taken me from rural Victoria to Washington DC. Telling the stories of my local LGBTI community brought me to political journalism, where I've covered eight budgets, four national elections in two countries, Defence, public service and international governance.
