Labor not opposing racist claim against Dutton
Anthony Albanese and senior government ministers are refusing to say if they think Peter Dutton is a racist as claimed by teal MP Zali Steggall.
Anthony Albanese and senior government ministers are refusing to say if they think Peter Dutton is a racist as claimed by teal MP Zali Steggall, with the politics of Gaza set to dominate another parliamentary sitting week.
As the Coalition ramps up its claims that 1300 Gazans who entered Australia since October 7 were not properly assessed, the Prime Minister ducked questions over whether he thinks Mr Dutton was racist for proposing a total ban on arrivals from the war zone.
“Peter Dutton plays politics at every opportunity,” Mr Albanese said. “He doesn’t talk about issues of concern to Australians. What he does is try and whip up fear.
“I think people will make their own judgment about Peter Dutton. He’s always looking to divide, never looking to bring Australians together.”
Ms Steggall last week accused Mr Dutton of being racist, first making the accusation in parliament where she is protected from defamation action.
But she repeated the claim outside the parliament in the media last week, with Sky News reporting Mr Dutton was considering legal action against her.
Finance Minister Katy Gallagher and Industry Minister Ed Husic also refused to say if they believed Mr Dutton was racist. This is despite Senator Gallagher saying politicians should be trying to take the heat out of the debate.
“We have to take the temperature down here,” Senator Gallagher said. “I think he’s doing what Peter Dutton does best, which is try and … incite the conversation based on division.”
Parliament was dominated by Gaza last week after Mr Dutton said he did not think anyone from the war zone should be coming into Australia. The captain’s call elevated the division between the major parties on the issue, with the Coalition a day earlier announcing it opposed any Hamas sympathisers being granted visas to Australia.
The Coalition used parliament to accuse Mr Albanese of failing to provide adequate checks of Gazans who have been granted visas, while attacking Labor for allowing Hamas sympathisers to receive approval to come into Australia.
As Pro-Palestine protesters took to the streets of Melbourne on Sunday to step up calls for Israel to stop its bombing campaign, Industry Minister Ed Husic said Gazan refugees from there were given tourist visas because they were “faster to process” than humanitarian visas. “Refugee visas take longer, and given what’s happening right now and the dangers presented, the view was to try and get people out as quickly as you can,” Mr Husic told Sky News.
Asked why other countries, including Egypt and Jordan, had not accepted arrivals from Gaza, Mr Husic cited political dynamics across the Middle East.
“There’s actually a regional political issue here as well … Palestinians want to return home and people want a right of return,” he said.
“The key issue here is we are trying to help people get out of harm’s way. We are trying to assist at some of the toughest points in time that people are facing, and Peter Dutton’s view on that is to shut the door on them.”
Liberal frontbencher Michael Sukkar said Mr Husic’s comments proved the government was more concerned with quickly bringing in Palestinians than ensuring people entering Australia were not security risks.
“Basically what he confirmed is we are circumventing proper process to ensure the integrity of our migration system,” Mr Sukkar told Sky News.
“We know for a fact that means some people have arrived here with no face-to-face checks, with not the usual sorts of checks that would be undertaken.”
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