Tarneen Onus-Williams, 24, said the reaction she had was “very extreme”.

She admitted to saying she hoped Australia would “burn to the ground”, but said she didn’t intend for her comment to be taken literally.

“I’m originally from Portland – Gunditjmara land is my country – I would never want it to burn to the ground,” Ms Onus-Williams said.

“What I meant to say is that the system is broken – I meant f--- the system. If the system doesn’t respect humanity, then fix it.”

Ms Onus-Williams said the first step to achieve this was to abolish Australia Day.

“What I want is for Australia Day to be abolished completely,” she said.

Ms Onus-Williams said she didn’t believe changing the date was the answer.

“We don’t want tokenism and we don’t think Australia deserves to have a national day,” she said.

“This country was built on colonialism and genocide of Aboriginal people.”

Ms Onus-Williams was shocked to receive death threats about her speech.

She said she was disappointed some media outlets had focused on one or two lines from her rally address.

Ms Onus-Williams admitted she was emotional and angry on Australia Day after “copping abuse in the two weeks in the lead up to Invasion Day”.

“I was upset but I don’t regret what I said.”

Ms Onus-Williams, an advocate for Aboriginals and a member of the Koorie Youth Council, was shocked by the “over-the-top” reaction to her speech.

The issue was raised by Member for Western Metropolitan Bernie Finn in parliament on Tuesday.

“As the Koorie Youth Council is a recipient of funding from the Andrews government, including from youth affairs, what measures has the government undertaken to remove the youth council spokesperson, Tarneen Onus-Williams, from the executive of that organisation,” he asked the Minister for Youth Affairs.

MP Jenny Mikakos said she was aware of the comments and believed they were inappropriate.

“However, they were the individual views of a person who was involved in organising that rally, and, as I understand it, the Koorie Youth Council has actually issued a statement that is available on their website, in which they have made it very clear that the views expressed did not represent that particular organisation,” she said.

In the statement, the youth council said it did not organise the Invasion Day rally.

“Tarneen Onus-Williams is a volunteer youth member of our organisation,” the statement said.

“Ms Onus Williams’ role in Friday’s rally is separate from her volunteering at KYC.

“Ms Onus Williams’ words during the rally are her own personal opinions. As an organisation KYC does not share her stance.

“KYC respects the range of opinions that Aboriginal young people and other members of our community hold about January 26th.”

Ms Onus-Williams said she had considered taking a step back from advocating for other Aboriginals in the wake of the media storm.

However, after receiving a groundswell of support through the hashtag #IStandWithTarneen on Twitter, she has vowed to continue to fight to have Australia Day abolished.

“I know I’m doing the right thing and as long as my community supports me I’ll keep doing what I’m doing,” she said.

Ms Onus-Williams said she had plans to hold an Invasion Day rally in Portland in 2019.

She held one in her hometown in 2017 and was supported by about 100 people.