Peter Dutton’s ‘beauty parade to win Lib right over South African farmers

Bill Shorten accuses Peter Dutton of trying to win over the Liberal right with his advocacy for white South African farmers.

Bill Shorten and Shadow Minister for Health Catherine King speak to media today. Picture: AAP.

Bill Shorten has accused Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton of wanting to enter a “beauty parade to win the right wing of the Liberal Party” and undermine Malcolm Turnbull with his advocacy for white South African farmers.

The Labor leader’s comments come after Mr Dutton last night disputed South Africa’s claim that Malcolm Turnbull and Julie Bishop had offered a “retraction” of Mr Dutton’s comments that persecuted white South African farmers needed protection from a “civilised country” like Australia, amid violence and land seizures.

South Africa’s Foreign Affairs Minister Lindiwe Sisulu had earlier welcomed a “retraction” from Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop.

Asked whether he was concerned Mr Dutton’s comments were affecting Australia’s relationship with South Africa, Mr Shorten said: “I don’t know what’s motivating Mr Dutton with his comments about South Africa.”

Mr Shorten, who was visiting a hospital in the western Melbourne suburb of Sunshine this morning, said he believed Australians were more concerned about the cost of living.

“You know if I go and ask the patients here, are they concerned about what Mr Dutton is saying about South Africa, they’re not raising that with me,” Mr Shorten said.

“If Mr Dutton wants to enter a beauty parade to win the right wing of the Liberal Party for votes in the future to undermine Mr Turnbull, that’s a matter which is up to them, which has got nothing to do with the long-term needs of Australians and cost of living.”

Asked again if he was concerned Mr Dutton’s comments could lead to a diplomatic incident, Mr Shorten said: “Listen I’m not going to give Mr Dutton’s beauty parade for the right wing of the Liberal Party any more attention than it deserves.”

Mr Dutton last night said he had seen a letter from Ms Bishop to Ms Sisulu but it contained no suggestions of repudiation or retraction.

“That’s not been retracted,” Mr Dutton told Sky News.

“The government’s position is as I stated it a couple of weeks ago. That is that we have a refugee and humanitarian program. We have an intake through that program. If people are eligible, as farmers from South Africa, they have been persecuted, then we will look at their individual cases, and in fact we’re having a look at several now.

“So no, there was no retraction of the comments and that’s certainly not the position of the Prime Minister or the Foreign Affairs Minister, and the Prime Minister confirmed that today.”

Mr Dutton said Australia had a great South African community.

“We know that there are many Zimbabwean farmers who have settled here over a period of time, those that were dispossessed or those that were driven from their lands,” he said.

“I don’t want to see that take place in any part of the world, and from Australia’s perspective, if we can help some of those relatives that are still in a desperate situation then we’re very happy to look at those cases, and that’s my priority.

“So we’ll go through, have a look at the individual cases. If we can settle people within the parameters of our program we’re happy to do that, and I think there’ll be a number of referrals by people who are living in Australia that have pretty explicit cases for us to have a look at.

“You look at the detail of some that have already been sent in, it’s unquestionably the case that there are some very difficult circumstances. People have been murdered. People have been assaulted on their own properties, et cetera.

“That’s been well-documented, and again the domestic political situation or commentary I’ll leave to others, but from our perspective I want to make sure that we can help those people who are in need, and I believe that we can look at some of these cases and determine whether or not those cases meet our criteria, and if so we would offer places to people in that circumstance.”