A petition has been launched calling on the federal government to introduce a national Australia Long Weekend celebration to finally resolve the annual January “Australia Day debate”.

Gunditjmarra woman, and Clothing the Gap founder, Laura Thompson, said the new campaign to introduce a long weekend “might just be the answer we are looking for “.

Instead of marking “Australia Day” on January 26, the public holiday could move the second-last Monday in January each year, creating a consistent long weekend that never falls on January 26.