Opposition Leader Bill Shorten wants to reframe the immigration debate and "continue the Australian anthem of inclusion".
In his Australia Day speech on Sunday, Mr Shorten will reflect on how the finest moments in Australian history have come from turning national will towards ending exclusion and bringing people in from the margins.
"Our challenge is to continue the Australian anthem of inclusion," Mr Shorten will say at a Melbourne citizenship ceremony.
Mr Shorten will urge Australians to go beyond the politics of fear that he says have tainted the public debate on immigration.
"From this day on instead of talking about migration as a threat to the peaceful, multicultural nation we have built, let us see it as the irreplaceable element in the making of modern Australia," he will say.
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He believes welcoming migrants is a national duty and helps drive prosperity.
"The sooner we recognise the benefits that migration brings, the faster we will arrive at a policy that truly reflects the warmth of the Australian people," he will say.
He wants to see an Australia big in compassion and imagination.
According Aboriginal people a long overdue place in Australia's founding document, the constitution, is an important priority in order to create an "Australia worthy of the pride of its oldest custodians", he will say.
