David Connolly was sworn in as Northern Territory administrator, the equivalent of a state governor, at parliament house in Darwin on Friday as about 100 people protested outside.
The protesters clashed with police when an Aboriginal Elder was arrested in chaotic scenes.
Mr Connolly had been under fire for weeks over social media posts on X that have since been deleted, with calls for him to be dumped.
The posts included attacks on what he called Indigenous privilege, an apparent mocking of Welcome to Country ceremonies and a re-post describing Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as an "arsehole".
They also appeared to denigrate women, share transphobic claims and make jokes about domestic violence.
Mr Connolly said on Monday the posts were "in response to things that were going on in the pastoral world".
"I was a naive cattleman talking about green grass, blue skies, fat cattle and it morphed into a agripolitics world," he said.
He told Mix 104.9 Darwin he was focused on representing all Territorians, and hoped to be judged on his actions in the job, not the past.
Mr Connolly said his door was open to his opponents to discuss how he could tone down "blokey sort of talk that's a little bit clumsy" as administrator.
The opposition tried to debate Mr Connolly's appointment in the NT parliament in February but was shut down by Speaker Robyn Lambley, who cited a standing order that members must not show disrespect for the administrator.
She also banned Friday's planned protest outside the NT parliament but the rally went ahead, attended by Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy and NT Opposition Leader Selena Uibo.
Senator McCarthy said on Monday she was concerned debate over the appointment and role of the administrator had been disallowed.
"I do think that is a real concern for democracy," she told Mix 104.9 Darwin.
Territorians elected their representatives to the assembly, where they should be able to have healthy debates, Senator McCarthy said.
Mr Albanese called on the NT government to defend Mr Connolly's appointment during a visit to Darwin in February, saying "it's not a decision I would have made".
NT Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro has stood by her government's choice of Mr Connolly, a former NT Cattlemen's Association president.
The new administrator apologised for the posts two days before he was sworn in, saying they were "no reflection of my personal core values".
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