Dutton says Voldemort barb ‘unfortunate’ as Plibersek apologises

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says it was a “mistake” for frontbencher Tanya Plibersek to compare potential Liberal leader Peter Dutton to a Harry Potter villain, insisting he wants to improve political discourse in the country.

Dutton has emerged as the sole candidate to stand for the leadership of the Liberal Party, as it reels from the election rout that saw the decimation of its moderate wing.

Labor frontbencher Tanya Plibersek apologised after comparing Liberal MP Peter Dutton’s appearance to that of Harry Potter villain Voldemort.Credit: James Brickwood/Alex Ellinghausen

Plibersek described Dutton as looking a “bit like Voldemort”, in an interview on Brisbane’s 4BC radio on Wednesday, adding he was “not the warm and friendly face of the Liberal Party”.

“I think there will be a lot of children who have watched a lot of Harry Potter films who will be very frightened of what they are seeing on TV at night, that’s for sure,” she said.

A spokesman for Plibersek said she contacted Dutton directly after the interview and offered an unreserved apology.

Dutton said the remarks were “unfortunate” and likened them to abuse he received on social media, as he discussed his leadership tilt on Sydney’s 2GB radio.

“It’s water off a duck’s back,” he said, acknowledging Plibersek’s apology. “I just don’t think you need to be nasty and mean. Point out people’s deficiencies in terms of their policies and decisions ... when you’re going for personal characteristics, that’s a different story.

“I’m not the prettiest bloke on the block but I hope that I’m going to be pretty effective.”

Asked about the remark during a blitz on breakfast TV on Thursday morning after arriving home in Australia from the QUAD security talks in Japan, Albanese said it “shouldn’t have been said”.

“Tanya Plibersek did the right thing by apologising. I do want to change the way that politics functions in this country. People do have conflict fatigue,” he told ABC Breakfast.

Pressed on whether his ambition to change politics was off to a bad start, given the sledge on Dutton’s appearance, Albanese said Plibersek had made a mistake. He confirmed that she would be on the Labor frontbench, which will be formally endorsed by the caucus next week, with the new ministry to be sworn in on Wednesday.

“Tanya Plibersek will certainly be on my frontbench. There is no question about that. She apologised. It was a mistake. It shouldn’t have been said. We all make mistakes from time to time,” he said.

“What we need to do is to move on from them and it is how we respond to them. Tanya Plibersek responded appropriately.”

He added that he had a good personal relationship with Dutton, saying “he has never broken a confidence or his word to me”.

In an interview on Channel Seven’s Sunrise, Albanese said attacks on people’s appearances should not occur and referenced the comments made by former prime minister Scott Morrison about his new glasses and weight loss during the election campaign.

“We should not refer to people’s appearance. Let’s discuss policy differences rather than – I want to change the way that politics operates.”

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