Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion has criticised a coalition colleague's comments about the "noble savage" lifestyle of some indigenous communities.
West Australian MP Dennis Jensen has come under fire for urging the government not to fund people living such lifestyles in remote communities.
"In this place those remarks are usually described as unhelpful by Mr Jensen and no, I do not support his remarks in any way," Senator Scullion told parliament on Thursday.
Dr Jensen has refused to apologise for offending anyone.
"In this space, the simple fact is any time you say anything that goes against the status quo, people will choose to take offence," he told National Indigenous Television on Thursday.
He said people could choose to live their lives the way they wanted, but insisted lifestyle choices should not be supported by the taxpayer.
Liberal colleague Ken Wyatt, Australia's first federal indigenous frontbencher, said whether Dr Jensen apologised or not was up to him.
"But what it demonstrates to me is that he's not prepared to have an open mind.
"If you want to discuss and debate issues then let's lay them on the table and have the debates around them, but do them from an informed position, not one based on prejudices or viewpoints that are stuck in an era long before this one."
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