Peter Dutton unleashes over ‘unprecedented attack’ over claims of silence on Nazi rally

Peter Dutton has unloaded on an ‘egregious breach’ of parliament after he was slammed in question time by the Attorney-General.

Peter Dutton has slammed accusations he remained silent amid controversy over the appearance of a state Liberal MP at an anti-trans rally attended by neo-Nazis.

About 30 people from neo-Nazi group the National Socialist Network joined demonstrators outside the Victorian parliament on Saturday, repeatedly performing the Nazi salute.

State MP Moira Deeming was involved in organising, promoting and attending the Let Women Speak rally, but said she did not know the neo-Nazi group would show up.

Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto has condemned Ms Deeming’s involvement in the rally and wants her expelled from the parliamentary party.

Peter Dutton unleashed on the government during question time on Tuesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

But until question time on Tuesday, Mr Dutton had yet to respond to the furore.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, in responding to a question, noted Mr Pesutto’s action and raised concern over Mr Dutton’s “complete silence”.

“We all know that bigotry and hatred breed in silence,” Mr Dreyfus told the house.

“The Leader of the Opposition is the most senior Liberal in Australia. Moira Deeming is one of his own and he’s been silent and done nothing.

“This speaks volumes about the leadership qualities of the Leader of the Opposition.”

Dressed in all black, the group repeatedly performed the Nazi salute. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Crosling

A furious Mr Dutton swiftly hit back, vowing to join any legislation to ban the Nazi salute should the federal government put forward, but accused Mr Dreyfus of engaging in political point scoring.

“I want to join with the Attorney-General in the remarks that he’s made so far as they go to condemnation of any use of Nazi symbols of the salute, of any glorification of that period of history,” the Liberal leader said.

“I have been in this place for 22 years, you can look at my history in any comment I made in making sure we never repeat the mistakes of history, especially during that period.

“I won’t take a morals lecture from that man (Dreyfus) or indeed, that one (Anthony Albanese).”

In a statement following question time, Mr Dutton said the Attorney-General’s attack was “unprecedented”.

Earlier on Tuesday, Mr Pesutto released his motion to expel Ms Deeming from the party room when parliament sits next week.

Ms Deeming has vowed to fight the “unjust” motion to oust her.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said condemning the actions did not go far enough and attacked the state Liberals for not standing up for trans rights.

“That event was a nasty hateful event, long before anyone offered up the Nazi salute,” Mr Andrews told reporters.

“You might say that the (Victorian) Liberal Party are increasingly becoming a nasty, hateful little rabble.”

The state government on Monday confirmed it would move to ban the Nazi salute in response to the weekend’s rally.

Peter Khalil warned a ban of the Nazi salute wouldn’t fix issues immediately. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

But banning the symbol wouldn’t address the “deeper structural problems” that allowed it to happen, the chair of the parliament’s national security committee Peter Khalil warned.

“Often, the rise of the far right occurs when there might be issues around inequality or socio-economic issues,” the Labor MP said.

“They are picking – in this case it was targeting the trans community – they pick out minorities to attack, they try and sow division and hatred and fear of the other. That is their ideological playbook.

“We should be aware of that and the way that they try and manipulate and get oxygen in their actions and trying to manipulate the community. We need to address that now.”

Originally published as Peter Dutton unleashes over ‘unprecedented attack’ over claims of silence on Nazi rally