Prime minister Malcolm Turnbull says moving Australia Day to accommodate Indigenous Australians who see 26 January as "Invasion Day" will not happen.
Turnbull's comments come after Fremantle City Council in Western Australia made a decision to move its Australia Day celebrations to another date in line with requests from the local Aboriginal community.
"Fremantle is delaying Australia Day by two days to the 28th of January because of Invasion Day. What's your view on that?" the PM was asked by radio host Neil Mitchell on Friday morning.
"There’s obviously controversy about it, there’s controversy about most things, but let's stick with Australia Day on January 26," Turnbull responded.
The council's rescheduling of all events from 26 January to 28 January comes just months after it decided to ban fireworks on Australia Day, citing distress from the local Indigenous community.
That move generated equal amounts of outrage and praise across Australia.
In a statement, the council said it wants a more "culturally inclusive" day and has named the event One Day in Freemantle. Aboriginal singer Dan Sultan will headline the celebrations alongside singer John Butler.
"The City of Fremantle wanted to celebrate being Australian in a way that included all Australians and we believe moving away from this date was more culturally inclusive and more in line with Fremantle’s values," a statement from the council said.
For most Indigenous people, the date that Australia Day is celebrated marks the day the British colonised Australia and began a bloody and violent conflict with Aboriginal tribes, known as the frontier wars.