I’m a politician and everyone keeps stopping me on the street to tell me the same thing about the Australia Day debate – and I couldn’t agree more

A Liberal MP has dismissed the Australia Day debate, claiming most Aussies have gotten a “gut feeling” about being told what to do by woke activists.

Andrew Wallace, who represents Fisher in south-east Queensland, said he is regularly stopped on the street by ordinary Australians tired of the debate.

“The word ‘woke’ was never really in the mainstream vocabulary until recently,” he told host Danica De Giorgio.

“I now have people stopping me on the street, people I’ve never met before, people asking me, ‘Where is this all going?’ when will all this woke nonsense stop?

“I think people have been absolutely gutted and I’m not talking about members of the LNP or people involved in politics, I’m talking about the average Australian who has had enough.

“They want the government out of their lives, they are tired of being told what is right and wrong, how to think, where to buy, what to do.”

Mr Wallace said Australia Day was “special” and should be treated as such.

“Australians are a friendly, peace-loving people who are and should be very proud of this great country,” he said.

“It is a very special day when we recognize Australia and we can be very proud of where we have come in the last 240 years.

‘We are the twelfth largest economy in the world and we have a very small population: 27 million people.

‘We box well above our weight in so many areas: in sports, in the economy, in industry.

‘We are a great country and we can be very proud of what we have built.’

Meanwhile, supermarket giant Woolworths is once again embracing Australia Day and stocking up on special festive items ahead of January 26, after being accused of scrapping the national celebration last year.

The retailer has revealed that all of its Woolworths and Big W stores will offer a special ‘Perfect for Australia Day’ section this month.

While the offering will mainly focus on food, customers will also have the chance to pick up an Australian-made Australian or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flag while shopping.

Mr Wallace said Australia Day was ‘special’ and Australians had many reasons to celebrate their country on that day

The face-off comes after the retailer was criticized last January when it shocked customers and announced it would not stock Australia Day merchandise.

A Woolworths spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that last year’s decision was prompted by “a decline in demand in our stores”, but that this time the company’s outlets will “celebrate Australia Day as a team, and with our customers’.

“We listened and realized that many customers and teams wanted us to do more to help them celebrate this day,” he said.

‘With us [Woolworths] supermarkets, we will do this through the lens of great Australian food that is perfect for the day, while BIG W will also showcase products that are perfect for family and friends gathering over the Australia Day long weekend.

“Customers can expect to see ‘Perfect for Australia Day’ sections in our supermarkets and BIG W in the lead up to the day.

‘Our store team members are also welcome to celebrate the day in store.

“We respect everyone’s choices in how they spend their day.”