Peter Dutton apologises to Dickson opponent Ali France in debate

Peter Dutton has issued a direct apology to his Labor opponent Ali France after accusing her of using her disability as an “excuse” for living outside the electorate.

PETER Dutton has issued a direct apology to his Labor opponent Ali France after accusing her of using her disability as an “excuse” for living outside the electorate.

The pair came face-to-face at an ABC debate at the Club Pine Rivers for the first time since Mr Dutton’s comment last week, which he initially defended and then apologised for on Twitter.

“I apologised for it the other day, I apologise to Ali for it now,” Mr Dutton said in the debate in his seat of Dickson.

Federal Election 2019: Day six of the campaign

Peter Dutton talks to constituents at Club Pine Rivers. Picture: AAP Image/Glenn Hunt

He said he was conveying an issue raised by constituents but conceded “I could have done it in a more sensitive way.”

Ms France, who lost her leg when she was hit by a car in 2011, thanked him for apologising but said people with a disability “don’t want pity, we don’t want special treatment”.

“What we do expect, in particular from leaders, is that they have an understanding, an understanding that we may do things differently in our world and that is OK,” she said.

Labor candidate for Dickson Ali France (centre) says she doesn’t want special treatment because of her disability. Picture: AAP Image/Glenn Hunt

Ms France has spent $100,000 upgrading her current home just outside the electorate of Dickson and vowed to move to the community if she won the seat.

But the two clashed after Mr Dutton raised a now-deleted tweet from December 2016 in which Ms France said she was “ashamed to be Australian” over treatment of asylum seekers.

Dickson candidates Peter Dutton and Ali France were debating at Bray Park. Picture: AAP Image/Glenn Hunt

Ms France denied making the statement, saying she had “shared an article” that used the quote.

“I didn’t say I was ashamed to be Australian, I have represented Australia twice in sport, I’ve won three gold medals, when I have stood on that podium, singing the national anthem, I couldn’t be prouder,” she said.