Unfairly vilified as a hard-hearted racist, Peter Dutton wins crucial support from unlikely source

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has been accused of being a callous racist. But the Syrian refugees who saw his tears and emotion wont hear a bad word against him, writes Des Houghton.

IN ONE of the most gratuitous hatchet jobs I’ve seen on Australian television, Greens senator Larissa Waters was able to get away with branding Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton a racist.

The smear on the ABC’s Q&A went unchecked.

Host Virginia Trioli seemed to me to find the discussion rather comical.

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Dutton is no racist, as the Syrian refugees he saved will quickly tell you. They told me how the hard man melted and wept as they told him of their struggle.

The Q&A flare-up came when the discussion turned to whether Queensland was a “racist” and “bigoted” state. To his credit, Queensland senator James McGrath immediately went on the defensive, saying Queenslanders were neither racist nor bigoted, and were “colour blind” to skin colour.

Senator Larissa Waters.

Waters did not defend her fellow Queenslanders. Instead, she taunted Dutton.

When McGrath asked Waters whether she had just accused Dutton of being a racist, she said: “Yes, I have.”

To Trioli’s annoyance, McGrath wouldn’t leave it alone. A disturbing, yet instructive, discussion followed.

McGrath: “She’s just accused a senior member of my party of being a racist, and I’m calling her out on that.”

Trioli: “I hear that, but she’s standing by it, so you’ll have to discuss (it) elsewhere.”

Waters to McGrath: “You disagree, but I stand by it.”

Senator James McGrath. Picture: David Anthony

Admittedly, Trioli was in a tight spot. Comments were flying from all directions. However, to my way of thinking, she should have demanded Waters produce some evidence or withdraw the slur. Too late, the damage was done.

The episode shows the hollowness of the ABC’s righteous claims of impartiality.

Dutton is the frequent target of these types of outrageous attacks while he seeks to keep our borders safe in the face of a reckless campaign to open the immigration floodgates.

Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton at the Pine River Bowls Club in Bray Park, Brisbane, Tuesday, April 16, 2019. Picture: AAP Image/Glenn Hunt

Indeed, his Labor opponent in Dickson, Ali France, joined the social media cheer squad calling for open borders – then quietly purged the posts as the campaign began.

Dutton has even been attacked for expelling foreigners for crimes in Australia, from rape to drug trafficking.

This does not mean he is racist. Waters’ attack on him was all the more puzzling because earlier in the show, she condemned the “mud-slinging and insult-hurling’’ that led to politicians being held in low esteem.

Hypocrite, hypocrite.

Labor candidate for Dickson Ali France (centre) is seen at the Pine River Bowls Club in Bray Park, Brisbane, Tuesday, April 16, 2019. Picture: AAP Image/Glenn Hunt

Waters and France probably don’t know it but Dutton has a fine record helping refugees.

In 2015 he and then prime minister Tony Abbott answered the call of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and agreed to resettle an additional 12,000 people fleeing the Syrian conflict.

Many came to Brisbane, including Yara Alhaj, a teacher, and her husband, Fadi Darwish, a mechanic, and their children, Dema, Joles, and Habib.

The family, from Brendale, north of Brisbane, will not hear a bad word against Dutton. Yara says she is proud to be chosen to welcome him to the Bridgeman Baptist centre English class.

“He saved our lives,” she says. “I told him how our country was destroyed. He had tears in his eyes. He is a really good man, and so humble.

“I saw him in Parliament and when he spoke, he was very strong and powerful.

“When I met him, I was surprised. He was very emotional.”