TheUS Insurance Information Institute cited an industry estimate that damage claims related to the Black Lives Matter protests could reach more than $1 billion,but said this was subject to further evaluation.

TheUS PolitiFact service,run by the Poynter Institute,rejected claims last June that more than 20 police officers were dead as a result of the Black Lives Matter protests. It concluded the death of one officer,David Dorn,was “conclusively connected” to violence at the protests.

During last week's Capitol riots,the mob smashed windows and broke doors,sending lawmakers into hiding as they began Electoral College votes affirming Democrat Joe Biden’s victory. Five people died,includingUS Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick,and more than 50 Capitol and DC police were injured.

Mr Chalmers said Mr McCormack was making a false comparison.

“It beggars belief that the acting Prime Minister is drawing his equivalence,” he said.

“This is a stupendous and outrageous failure of leadership. When leaders all around the world are rightly condemning the violence in Washington,DC,we have members of the Australian government trying to legitimise it or draw false comparisons.”

Acting Greens Leader Nick McKim said Mr McCormack was engaging in"post-truth politics"with his false equivalence.

“The Black Lives Matter movement is a push-back against racist policing and politics. In contrast,the Capitol riots were because the far right didn't want to accept the results of a fair and democratic election,"Senator McKim said.

“Our warning to the Liberals is simple. Taking up Trump-style politics is poison to democracy. If this is the direction the Liberal Party is heading,it bodes terribly for the future of Australian politics.”

Health Minister Greg Hunt also refused to criticise Liberal MP Craig Kelly,who has been posting on Facebook questioning coronavirus vaccines.

"We follow the advice of the medical advisers,and many people,as I just said,will put out differing views,"he told reporters.

The political dispute over the US protests comes as Mr McCormack and other Morrison government ministerscriticised Twitter and Facebook for suspending or banning US President Donald Trump on the grounds he incited the violent attack on the Congress last Thursday.

WhileTechnology Minister Karen Andrews called for "transparent rules" about how social media companies removed content,the government has not said whether it wanted to regulate the way private companies decided who could use their services.

Speaking in Townsville later on Tuesday,Mr McCormack dismissed Amnesty International's criticism of his remarks and said others were"confecting outrage"over his comparison with the Black Lives Matter protests.

"The fact is there was violence,there was destruction,there was uninsured property that business owners then had to dig deep into their own pockets to rebuild,"he said.

"And then,of course,there are lives lost. I appreciate there are a lot of people out there who are being a bit bleeding-heart about this and who are confecting outrage,but they should know that those lives matter,too.

"All lives matter."

The Australia Director of Human Rights Watch,Elaine Pearson,said Mr McCormack was being “deliberately provocative” by using the “all lives matter” – a slogan used by opponents of the Black Lives Matter movement.

“What a cheap,divisive and dangerous political stunt,” Ms Pearson said.