George Christensen says Australia can learn from Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte’s drugs fight

A CONTROVERSIAL MP has called on Australia to follow the Philippines’ example of rounding up and executing criminals in a war on drugs.

Coalition MP George Christensen says Australia could learn from the Philippines brutal crackdown in the war on drugs. Picture: AAP

CONTROVERSIAL Coalition MP George Christensen has praised Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly drug war — while calling for a “round-up” of all suspected drug traffickers and producers in Australia.

Posting a link to an article on his Facebook page about Mr Duterte’s boast about having killed criminals himself while he was mayor of Davao, Mr Christensen wrote “A leader who personally sees off drug dealers? And the problem is?”.

He quickly clarified his comments, saying while he didn’t personally support elected officials shooting people, he agreed with the Philippines’ crackdown on drugs and believed Australia could learn from the approach.

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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has boasted about personally killing criminals. Picture AP

“The point is, if we are serious about curbing the blight of drugs, we need to step up the fight,” Mr Christensen wrote, before advocating a “round-up of all known and suspected traffickers and producers and some serious questioning and interrogation by police”.

“Instead of the West sneering at Duterte and the Philippines, perhaps we can learn from them,” he wrote.

Mr Christensen’s comments come after President Duterte bragged about being a vigilante killer.

The Australian MP also called for stronger penalties for drug producers and traffickers, making reference to Singapore’s justice system, where offenders can be punished with canning.

George Christensen has praised the Philippines’ brutal crackdown in the war on drugs. Picture Kym Smith

“The Singapore-style punishment system of caning seems too good for some of the scum that profit off of the misery of others with the drug trade,” Mr Christensen wrote.

“We’ve done our namby-pamby War on Drugs in the West and it’s been a complete failure.

“The Philippines is taking a hardline approach. Their drug abuse stats are about the same as Australia’s but it’s compounded by the fact that corruption is that endemic in the Philippines that the drug trade has merged with politics. They call it “narco-politics” over there.

“All allegations against individuals, particularly government and legal officials, on the drug front are being taken seriously and suspects are being rounded up for questioning.”

Mr Duterte, who is also known as The Punisher, has come under fierce criticism for his brutal crackdown on drugs, which has led to more than 2000 suspects being killed in what many are calling extrajudicial killings.

The United Nations has condemned Mr Duterte’s “apparent endorsement of extrajudicial killings, which is illegal and a breach of fundamental rights and freedoms”.

But Mr Christensen claims there had been no extrajudicial killings, posting several links to news stories about a report released by the Philippines’ Senate Committee as proof the practice did not exist.

“The stuff about extrajudicial killings has been found to be nonsense,” he declared.

Filipino protesters perform during a Christmas-theme street play to protest alleged extra judicial killings in Manila. Picture: AP

Australian Greens leader Richard Di Natale said Mr Christensen’s comment indicated a concerning trend in the Turnbull Government.

“The real concern here is that extreme views are no longer fringe within the Turnbull government but are front and centre among the party’s powerbrokers,” Senator Di Natale said.

“Is this a sign of where the government is heading?”

Senator Di Natale said true conservatives should respect the institutions of government and due process.

“Respect for the rule of law if fundamental to the functioning of a liberal democracy,” he said.