Burney slams Morrison's Australia Day comments

Mr Morrison defended Australia Day being celebrated on January 26 saying the arrival of European settlers "wasn't a particularly flash day" for convicts either.

Australia Day marks the anniversary of the 1788 arrival of the First Fleet and the British flag raising at Sydney Cove.

For many Australians the day is controversial and it has been labelled as "Invasion Day" by those that oppose celebrating in on January 26.

The prime minister believes European settlers and the arrival of convicts in 1788 was difficult for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

"When those 12 ships turned up in Sydney all those years ago, it wasn't a particularly flash day for the people on those vessels either," he said.

But Ms Burney, who is also Labor's Indigenous Australians spokeswoman and a proud Wiradjuri woman, said Mr Morrison's comments were not helpful.

"Suffering is not a competition. What the prime minister has said makes no sense," she said.

"As the leader of the country, he has an example to set for the rest of the nation and he should know better.

"How can we expect to see real progress on issues such as Reconciliation and Closing the Gap when he makes such ignorant and unhelpful comments like this?"