AAP


A Liberal backbencher has acknowledged that Opposition Leader Tony Abbott used "clunky" language when discussing the differences between indigenous people from urban and rural backgrounds.


Mr Abbott on Tuesday said it would be terrific to have an "authentic" indigenous representative of central Australia in Canberra in response to a question about the possibility of Northern Territory minister Alison Anderson switching to federal politics.


Sitting West Australian Liberal MP Ken Wyatt is the first indigenous Australian in the federal lower house.


"I think it would be terrific if, as well as having an urban Aboriginal in our parliament, we had an Aboriginal person from central Australia, an authentic representative of the ancient cultures of central Australia in the parliament," Mr Abbott said.


Mr Wyatt's nephew Ben Wyatt, a state Labor MP, is "staggered" Mr Abbott thinks an Aboriginal person who lives in the city or suburbs "is bereft of culture".


Ken Wyatt himself released a statement saying "in all indigenous Australians our culture is the essence of who we are - our geographic location is what distinguishes us".


Fellow backbencher Alex Hawke on Wednesday denied Mr Abbott was suggesting Mr Wyatt was not an authentic Aboriginal person.


"While the language may have been a tiny but clunky, Ken Wyatt's nephew is a member of the Labor Party and what Tony Abbott is clearly saying here is that he wants more indigenous Australians in our federal parliament," Mr Hawke told Sky News.


"I don't believe anybody can find fault with that."


Mr Hawke said the opposition leader was simply saying local people from the NT would best represent the culture of the territory "where a lot of indigenous Australians are located".


But Labor backbencher Ed Husic wasn't buying that explanation.


"Tony Abbott is gone as the opposition leader," he told Sky News on Wednesday.


"He has displayed, over the last few weeks, gaffe after gaffe after gaffe."