Federal election 2025: Peter Dutton not welcome at Brisbane mosque

A prominent Brisbane mosque says Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is not welcome due to past comments on Muslim communities.

Holland Park Mosque spokesman Ali Kadri

Peter Dutton’s bid to win over multicultural Australia has been dealt another blow, with a prominent mosque revealing the Opposition Leader would not be welcome to visit due to some of his past comments on Muslim communities.

The Labor-aligned leader of the Holland Park Mosque in the Greens-held Brisbane electorate of Griffith have said Mr Dutton’s “divisive rhetoric” was “inconsistent with our values”, while the Lebanese Muslim Association has gone further and said no politicians at all would be allowed at their institutions during the election.

The rejections come a day after Mr Dutton’s campaign visit to Al Madinah Masjid in western Sydney prompted its leaders to release a statement clarifying the meeting did not amount to an endorsement of the Coalition leader, and express their hope he’d address his past critical remarks about some Muslim Australians.

Holland Park Mosque spokesman Ali Kadri, a Labor member who volunteered for Jim Chalmers at the 2022 election, said: “Mr Dutton’s history of divisive rhetoric, particularly towards migrants and the Muslim community, as well as his support for policies that could disproportionately affect our community, make his visit inconsistent with our values.”

He added Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and other Liberal politicians would be welcome at the mosque.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton (right) and Nationals leader David Littleproud (left) with Bulloo Shire Mayor John Ferguson in flooded Thargomindah on Monday. Picture: James Brickwood/NCA NewsWire

As immigration minister in 2016, Mr Dutton said: “The advice I have is that out of the last 33 people who have been charged with terrorist-related offences in this country, 22 of those people are from second and third generation Lebanese-Muslim background.”

He also said former prime minister Malcolm Fraser “did make mistakes in bringing some people in” as part of his 1970s immigration policies.

When asked whether he would apologise for his previous comments, Mr Dutton pivoted to a message of keeping the entire community safe after his Sunday announcement of $25,000 in funding for CCTV for a mosque.

“I don’t tolerate attacks on mosques, not on churches, not on temples, not on any place of worship, and I’ve been very clear about that. I don’t care where the acts of violence come from,” he said.

“If somebody is committing an act of violence against somebody, and it’s religiously based, I’m dead against that.”

He also referred to the shooting of a man in Melbourne overnight to criticise Labor’s record on security.

The man shot by police after allegedly after running at officers with a metal pole was one of the hundreds of former immigration detainees released after a High Court ruling.

“We see a shooting last night by the police of one of those allegedly (released) and that’s a very serious issue,” he said.

The Lebanese Muslim Association said Mr Dutton, along with any other politicians, wouldn’t be welcomed to any of their affiliated mosques in Sydney, Adelaide or Queensland.

Secretary Gamel Kheir said he was conscious of politicians trying to use Eid, which marks the end of Ramadan, as a publicity opportunity.

“We feel very much dissatisfied with the lack of attention Gaza has received from politicians – (not allowing them to our institutions is the) only way we can make it clear to politicians that we feel our voices are not being heard,” he said.

Mr Dutton ended the day by announcing $6.5bn in federal funding for the Melbourne Airport Rail Link, the first major cash splash of the coalition campaign.

The comments came as Liberal frontbencher Jason Wood was heckled out of a Melbourne mosque on Monday.

Footage shows protesters at the event, where Mr Wood had announced funding for a $6.5m upgrade to the facility, standing up and shouting out over the presenters.

Mr Dutton on Monday headed to the marginal seat of Paterson in NSW’s lower Hunter Region, before flying to flood-ravaged western Queensland where he announced $10m for a weather radar for the region.

In Paterson, held by Labor on a slim 2.6 per cent margin, Mr Dutton toured a mining-equipment manufacturer where he again talked up his party’s plans to create a new east coast gas reserve, but without offering a figure on how much it would bring down power prices.

Originally published as Federal election 2025: Peter Dutton not welcome at Brisbane mosque