"Even those who don't believe that the date should be changed need to understand that Australia Day doesn't mean the same thing to everyone. For many Aboriginal people it is a reminder of dispossession and oppression.

"It is a painful day, and for those people advocating that it's not painful, I'm not sure what planet they are living on."

Mr Joyce launched his tirade against the Indigenous community and their supporters via Sydney radio station 2GB, saying he was "sick of these people who every time, every time there's something on, they just want to make you feel guilty".

"They don't like Christmas, they don't like Australia Day, they're just miserable-gutted people and I wish they would crawl under a rock and hide for a little bit," Mr Joyce said.

Speaking at the Yabun festival in Sydney on Thursday morning, Ms Burney told Fairfax Media she did not support January 26 as the date for Australia Day.