Former Army chief David Hurley believes Australia will never become a truly unified nation if it continues to dig trenches and build walls dividing its citizens.
Mr Hurley, who now serves as NSW governor, says Australia is undoubtedly a vibrant and dynamic country but he questions whether a sense of place has been created for all.
During a keynote address at an Australia Day luncheon in Sydney on Friday, Mr Hurley described the country as a work in progress and a nation of stories.
"These stories include past and sometimes continuing tensions - indigenous and non indigenous, freeman, convict and ex-convict, Catholicism and Anglicanism and the frictions of each new layer of migrants," he said.
"My professional past, my professional experience, assures me of one truth: we can't create peaceful solutions by digging trenches and erecting defensive perimeters."
Debate has again flared among the political class about the date of Australia Day, despite most voters admitting they are laid back about changing it.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, the daughter of Armenian immigrants, defended holding the public holiday on January 26, which marks the arrival of the First Fleet and is deeply upsetting to many indigenous people.
"Yes, we'll always have those debates, it's important to have those debates," she said.
"I'm proud of Australia Day, I'm proud of celebrating it on January 26 with all of our citizens together. I feel that that is the day that all Australians know."
Meanwhile, Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion insists no one has approached him about changing the date of Australia Day.
Senator Scullion acknowledges people commemorate January 26 in different ways but says no one has ever spoken to him about changing the date.
"It never comes up as an issue," he told ABC radio on Friday, insisting education and health were higher priorities.
Indigenous Health Minister Ken Wyatt was surprised to hear his colleague hadn't been approached about a date change.
"Certainly I've had individuals who have that view talk to me, I've had them text me, even as late as yesterday," he told ABC TV.
"He may not have had that approach but I certainly have and I know that my other indigenous colleagues have been part of that discussion as well."
Their comments come after Tony Abbott described British settlement as "a very good thing" and attacked Bill Shorten for having a bet each way on the date of Australia Day.
The former prime minister said British settlement was something all Australians "on balance" could celebrate and the country would not be improved by "wallowing in a kind of endless carping self-criticism".
Mr Shorten on Thursday said he supported Australia Day staying on January 26 but would not sneer at indigenous Australians wanting to discuss changing the date.
Mr Abbott said the Labor leader's ambiguity on debate over the public holiday showed he was not ready to run the country.
