A Victorian MP who once appeared to argue people didn't say thank you enough for the benefits colonisation has brought has been elevated to the opposition front bench.

On Tuesday, Western Victoria MP Beverley McArthur, a key member of the Liberal's conservative faction whose support helped Brad Battin win the leadership spill last week, was elevated to the shadow cabinet, taking the local government portfolio.

Questioned over the 75-year-old's suitability due to her age, Mr Battin said she "works super hard and hardly sleeps".

"Her work ethic is quite amazing, and some have questioned her age," he said.

"Let me assure you, she is up before me, she goes to bed after me, and she works exceptionally hard. She has a passion for local government. We know more than anything, she will hold the government to account when it comes to scrutiny of government."

However, it was Ms McArthur's views on January 26 which has previously generated controversy.

In May 2023, she appeared to suggest people should be grateful for the "wonderful things that have been enabled via colonisation".

In a release not distributed by the Coalition media team, and in response to the City of Geelong discontinuing citizenship ceremonies (a position they have now reversed), Ms McArthur questioned if a Geelong councillor who supported the decision had reflected on the positives of Australia's history.

"Firstly - democracy itself. The arrival of communists instead of the First Fleet would no doubt have created a different outcome," she wrote at the time.

The Communist Manifesto was written in 1848, 61 years after the First Fleet departed England.

"Should we also say sorry for hospitals, roads, mobile phones, ready food at supermarkets, homes, running water, electricity for light and warmth, Indigenous-only medical centres, aged care and court processes?" Ms McArthur added.

"There is one word that is rarely heard in this discussion and it is a simple word. Thank you."

Writing in the Spectator magazine under the title "Cancelling our crucible day," Ms McArthur noted the difficulties faced by Indigenous people, but also claimed "multiple days (are dedicated) to acknowledging the struggles encountered in the formation of modern Australia".

"Cancelling Australia Day is code for saying we are not a good nation. We are not worth celebrating. Why would anyone want to come here to this place of trauma? Geelong councillors would have us in a state of perpetual sorry."

Her comment drew the ire of Nira illim bulluk man and inaugural First Peoples' Assembly Co-Chair, Marcus Stewart, who said Ms McArthur was "another unknown politician saying something offensive at our expense as they try to make a name for themselves".

"Should Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people be saying thanks for the invasion of our lands and massacre of our people?" he asked at the time.

"Should we be grateful that we're the most locked up people in the country and that our kids are still being torn away from our families?

"The reality is that more and more people across this country are learning the truth and understand that the harms of colonisation are still experienced by our people today."

In response to comments made by Mr Stewart, Ms McArthur told Guardian Australia it was "deeply regrettable that my comments have been seriously misrepresented".

"My piece makes no attempt to ignore history or past difficulties and traumas," she said. "I noted the wrongs committed towards our Aboriginal population, [and] the fact that we have said sorry as a nation, and we meant it."

In response to Ms McArthur's promotion, Victorian government minister Lily D'Ambrosio said the Liberal MP "masterminded the hostile right-wing takeover of the Victorian Liberal Party".

"She's only just begun," Ms D'Ambrosio said.

"She is the chief spear carrier of the Liberal anti-trans movement, she crossed the floor to vote against the outlawing of gay conversion therapy – she even said Aboriginal Victorians should say 'thank you' for colonisation because it stopped communism."

Ms D'Ambrosio told reporters on Tuesday: "Everyone knows Bev McArthur's views on a whole range of issues, and no one can actually accept that she's someone who actually reflects modern Day Victoria and the standards and aspirations that everyone around this state would hope to receive attention for."

A number of councils across the country have begun to reverse their stance on January 26 citizenship ceremonies, as criticism of things deemed to be "un-Australia" has been promoted by the federal opposition.

Liberal federal front bencher Dan Tehan said they would force councils to host ceremonies on January 26 if the Coalition wins the upcoming federal election, overturning a Labor policy which allow for a three-day buffer on either side of January 26.