A Sydney councillor has been condemned for refusing to say an Indigenous Acknowledgement of Country statement because he says it would be divisive.
Sydney resident Mikaela Gallaway wrote to Hills Shire councillor Brooke Collins, asking why the council in Sydney's west did not include an Acknowledgement of Country at the start of meetings.
Councillor Collins, who lists the Liberal Party as his political affiliation, told Ms Gallaway that doing so could divide the community.
"Thank you for your email ... I won't single out one race, we are all equal and what you suggest just divides us more," he wrote in one email.
In another email he said Indigenous Australians had also "turned up on our shores unannounced".
"How do you know they didn't wipe out another race when they arrived here 70,000 years ago?" he wrote.
"Let's agree to disagree ... we have what we all have today thanks to European settlement ... if they didn't arrive you and I wouldn't be here," he added.
"I can't change what happened over 250 years ago [so] let's all move forward."
In a post to social media, Ms Gallaway said the position was "utterly ridiculous".
Council members affiliated with the Liberal Party in 2017 voted down a motion to incorporate Acknowledgement of Country statements into council meetings.
Acknowledgement of Country statements are used to show respect to Australia's traditional owners and the "continuing connection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to country", according to Reconciliation Australia.
They are typically delivered at the start of meetings and events, the National Indigenous Australians Agency said.
Since the exchange was shared on social media on Wednesday afternoon, thousands have signed a petition urging the Hills Shire Council to reverse its position.
"Currently there is no acknowledgement of traditional owners at meetings or major events within my community," petition creator Samantha Wylie wrote.
"We have been humbled and overwhelmed by the support we have received from the local members that have reached out to us and we would like to see this change in the future."
Western Sydney is the traditional land of the Darug Indigenous Australians.
"Recognition is the first step to reconciliation and please help the Darug people and support our children to grow up in a community that is inclusive of their culture and beliefs with pride," Ms Wylie wrote on the petition.
SBS News has contacted Councillor Collins for comment.
