What they said...
History is generally written from a dominant society's point of view and not that of the suppressed...therefore true history is brushed aside, masked, dismissed or destroyed
Ken Wyatt, federal Minister for Indigenous Australians
I didn't believe genocide had taken place, and I still don't
John Howard, prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007
The issue at a glance
On July 10, 2019, the federal minister for Indigenous Australians, Ken Wyatt, gave a speech in which he committed to 'address[ing] truth telling.' He referred to the 'brutal realities of the past' and the trauma of the stolen generations - Indigenous children removed from their families. 
In an address given at the National Press Club, the minister stated, 'We need to hear the lies they were told, the casual cruelty of the fates they were dealt and the unthinkable loss in their hearts'. He declared that the country's 'true' history could not be 'brushed aside, masked, dismissed or destroyed.'
On June 4, 2019, the Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau endorsed the finding of the National Inquiry into Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls that their treatment 'was genocide'. Whether the use of this term is appropriate to refer to Indigenous deaths and disappearances has been widely debated in Canada.
In Australia there is still no consensus as to whether the term 'genocide' should be applied to the Indigenous deaths which resulted from colonisation or to the subsequent removal of indigenous children from their families.
The manner in which Australia's past might be truthfully viewed remains contentious.
What they said...
'We can't reasonably expect indigenous Australians to "draw that line in history" [between past wrongs and present reality] while we continue to celebrate on a day which marks the beginning of their dispossession and the loss of their cultural control of this land'
Former federal Resources and Science Minister, Ian Macfarlane
'The shire needs to retract what it's doing. It's not in line with community attitudes. I strongly condemn them for this whole thing. They've really upset a lot of people and are not representing the ratepayers. Australia Day is Australia Day'
Indigenous spokesperson, Robert Isaacs, criticising Freemantle's attempt to shift the date of Australia Day
The issue at a glance
On August 25, 2016, the Freemantle Council announced that the Western Australian city would no longer hold its Australia Day celebrations on January 26th. The change was made out of respect for the feelings of Indigenous Australians, many of whom do not find the date a reason for celebration as it coincides with the initial dispossession of their ancestors.
The Council subsequently announced that it would instead celebrate on January 28th with an event called 'One Day in Fremantle'. Citizenship ceremonies were also intended to be held on January 28th rather than the usual January 26th.
On December 5, 2016, the federal Government intervened and required Freemantle to hold its citizenship ceremonies on January 26th. The assistant immigration minister, Alex Hawke, claimed that holding citizenship ceremonies on January 28 would give an anti-Australia Day message. The Minister added, 'It's really important ... we've got hundreds of councils administering this around the country ... that they don't get the idea they can use citizenship as a political football.'
In the event, Freemantle held its citizenship ceremonies on January 26th and its day of public celebration on January 28th. Many Freemantle traders conducted their own 'Australia Day' celebrations on January 26th to coincide with the public holiday.
These developments served to accentuate the debate surrounding the suitability of the current date of Australia's national day. This is a dispute which predates the Australia-wide adoption of January 26th as Australia Day in 1994.
What they said...
'Closing the climb is not something to feel upset about but a cause for celebration'
From a speech made on October 31, 2017, by senior traditional owner and park chairman, Sammy Wilson
'Well if you want to get rid of 99% of tourists that's the way to go'
Comment posted in The Northern Star on November 1, 2017
On October 31, 2017, the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park's Board of Management voted unanimously to ban the climbing of Uluru from October 26, 2019.
The Board, consisting of eight Indigenous traditional owners and three representatives from National Parks, accepted a proposal to put a stop to climbing on the 34th anniversary of the Uluru handback.
Chairman Sammy Wilson, a traditional owner who also runs a small tourism business, stated, 'Some people, in tourism and government, for example, might have been saying we need to keep it open but it's not their law that lies in this land...
The Government needs to respect what we are saying about our culture in the same way it expects us to abide by its laws.'
Traditional owners have been asking visitors not to climb Uluru since the 1985 handback and signs requesting people reconsider climbing have been in place at the base of the climb area since 1992.
Central Land Council Director, David Ross, has supported the decision, stating, 'Why this decision wasn't made decades ago is a fair question.' However, he further stated, 'Anangu [the traditional owners of Uluru] have genuinely struggled to accommodate many powerful competing interests and have faced massive pressure.'
In April, 2016, the Turnbull government announced it did not intend to end the climb. The Environment Minister Greg Hunt stated there were 'no plans to change current arrangements.' In 2009, when in opposition, Hunt had claimed that banning the climb would 'end one of the great tourism experiences in Australia.'
What they said...
'Adam is hurting, he feels it's racist, many, many people feel this is racist and therefore why would you do it, knowing that'
AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan
'This whole Adam Goodes drama is ridiculous. The public can boo or chant whoever's name they want! It's nothing to do with being racist....'
Former Australian test bowler, Shane Warne
On August 29, 2015, Indigenous AFL player Adam Goodes was again booed during a game between his team, the Sydney Swans, and St Kilda. The game was played at Etihad Stadium.
It was reported that St Kilda fans booed Goodes when he touched the ball early in the game then again when he kicked a goal in the second quarter.
This was Goodes first game back after taking several weeks off in response to consistent booing from opposition crowds during away games. This booing has been occurring for about eighteen months.
Goodes has been a prominent spokesperson for Indigenous rights and there are those who claim that the negative response to Goodes is racially based. Others claim it is a response to aspects of Goodes's game or to his aggressive attitude toward opposition supporters.
On September 19, 2015, Goodes announced his retirement from AFL football.
On September 24, 2015, it was reported that Goodes had declined a lap of honour to mark his retirement and his contribution to the game. The lap of honour would have occurred prior to the AFL Grand Final.
Persistent crowd harassment has been suggested as contributing to Goodes's decision to retire and to decline the lap of honour.
The issue has sharply divided social and sporting commentators and supporters of AFL football.
What they said...
'Surely we need no longer maintain the fiction that he "discovered" this country'
ABC Indigenous affairs editor, Stan Grant, commenting on the inscription on the statue of Captain Cook in Hyde Park
'Trying to edit our history is wrong. Now all of those statues, all of those monuments, are part of our history and we should respect them and preserve them'
Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull
The controversy at a glance
On August 18, 2017, The ABC published on its Internet site a comment by Stan Grant, its Indigenous affairs editor and presenter of the ABC's Friday evening current affairs program, The Link.
The article is essentially a transcript of a segment televised on The Link in which Grant compares the United States' attitude to the commemoration of its history with that of Australia.
Grant argues that the recent controversy in the United States over the removal of statues honouring Confederate leaders makes an interesting comparison to Australia, where, Grant claims, we are often silent regarding contentious aspects of our past.
Grant focuses on the statue of Captain Cook in Hyde Park, Sydney, which bears the inscription, 'Discovered this territory 1770'. Grant condemns the inscription as historically inaccurate and suggests it should be altered.
Grants remarks have promoted a strong media reaction and widespread debate. Commentators such as Alan Jones have tweeted suggesting that Grant's comments are unacceptable to the Australian public. Jones has stated, 'If Stan Grant keeps going the way he is in relation to AUS history and monuments he'll go the same way as Yassmin Abdel-Magied [a former ABC commentator who has since announced her intention to leave the country].
Other commentators have debated the accuracy and/or appropriateness of the inscription. The Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull has stated that he believes the inscription should remain unaltered, while the Opposition leader, Bill Shorten, has stated it should be accompanied by a further explanatory plaque.
Subsequent vandalising of the statue and others in Sydney commemorating prominent colonial figures has been condemned by both sides in the debate.