Fans have come out in support of Jesinta Franklin after she said the Cleo Smith case wouldn't have generated the same amount of attention if she were Indigenous.
Supporters flooded the 30-year-old model's Instagram account with praise after she deleted her original post following backlash.
'Thank you for speaking up for Indigenous children. Sorry you were pressured into deleting the post, you said nothing wrong,' one fan commented.
Fans have come out in support of Jesinta Franklin after she said the Cleo Smith missing persons case wouldn't have generated the same amount of attention if she were Indigenous. Pictured with her daughter Tullulah
'I support what you said! Indigenous children and children of colour are so overlooked,' added another.
'Of course Cleo deserves the effort that went into the search but ALL children deserve that! Western culture has a horrible history of sensationalising white missing children.'
A third said her post was '100 per cent correct', while several others said she was 'SPOT ON' with her assessment.
Supporters flooded the 30-year-old model's Instagram page with praise after she deleted the controversial post amid backlash. Pictured: Cleo Smith
'I'm really sorry you deleted your comment about Cleo. Yes, your timing was off but you were absolutely spot on,' commented one fan.
'We need to highlight this as an example of injustices within Indigenous communities.'
It comes after Jesinta faced backlash after comparing Cleo's case to missing Indigenous children, with many criticising the timing of her post.
'Thank you for speaking up for Indigenous children. Sorry you were pressured into deleting the post, you said nothing wrong,' commented one fan
'Wrong time to bring this up,' wrote one critic, while a second slammed her post as being 'utterly insensitive'.
'I'd agree with her if she made concerted efforts to bring this to light consistently prior to this incident, piggy backing is just making it about her!' wrote another.
One accused Jesinta of 'turn[ing] the good-news story of the year into issue of race'.
'Indigenous children and children of colour are so overlooked,' another supporter said
In a since-deleted post on Instagram Stories on Wednesday, Jesinta spoke about the disappearance and subsequent discovery of Cleo, four, insisting the case wouldn't have received the same coverage if she'd been an Aboriginal child.
The former Miss Universe Australia, who is married to Indigenous AFL superstar Lance 'Buddy' Franklin, pointed out the 'disparity' between missing white children and Indigenous children.
'Without taking away from the joy of finding a missing child alive and well, I can't help but think about the disparity that exists in this country
