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Immigration Minister Alex Hawke has rejected a proposal from Independent MP Zali Steggall to hold one minute's silence on Australia Day to recognise Indigenous Australians.
Ms Steggall had written to mayors in her Sydney electorate asking they consider observing the silence to acknowledge the “discrimination and hardship” Indigenous Australians have faced since British occupation.
Australia Day marks the anniversary of the arrival of the first fleet of British ships into Port Jackson in 1788. A growing movement has sought to label the occasion "Invasion Day".
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Mr Hawke called Ms Steggall's proposal “ill-considered” saying it played “negative politics with our history".