Morrison prepared to sign statutory declaration denying he used race in bid for seat

Scott Morrison says he is willing to sign a statutory declaration denying allegations he racially vilified a competitor in a preselection battle to get into Parliament, as members of the Lebanese community who have known the Prime Minister for years have rejected the accusations.

Mr Morrison hit out at unnamed people who were making “all sorts of things up, because they have other motivations”, saying they were “quite malicious, and bitter slurs, which are deeply offensive, and I reject them absolutely”.

Scott Morrison denied the accusations on Sunday, pointing the finger at people who had other motivations for wanting to criticise him.Credit: AAP

The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age revealed on Sunday that Mr Morrison’s challenger to enter Parliament in 2007, Michael Towke, stood by his claims in a newly revealed 2016 statutory declaration that the Prime Minister was directly involved in “racial vilification” against him.

Among the allegations are that Mr Morrison told people that a candidate of Lebanese heritage such as Mr Towke could not hold the seat of Cook after the 2005 Cronulla riots and that there was a strong rumour his opponent was actually a Muslim. Mr Towke grew up as a Maronite Catholic and went to Marcellin College in Randwick.

The revelations came days after Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells described Mr Morrison as “ruthless” and a “bully” and said he had made “racial comments” against Mr Towke in the 2007 preselection contest.

Mr Towke at one stage worked for Senator Fierravanti-Wells, who was recently placed in an unwinnable spot on the party’s Senate ticket, and gained her support for his bid to win Liberal preselection for Cook.

Jamal Rifi, a prominent Muslim and Lebanese doctor in south-west Sydney who climbed the Kokoda Track with Mr Morrison in 2009 to help heal the wounds of the Cronulla riots, said the allegation “doesn’t stick with me, it doesn’t stick with my community”.

“I got to know the Prime Minister following the Cronulla riots when he was first elected,” Dr Rifi said.

“If someone actually won an election [by being] anti-Lebanese and anti-Muslim, they would not befriend me. Because they would look ridiculous.”

Dr Rifi said after the Christchurch massacre Mr Morrison “embraced the community and he felt our pain”, while he has also witnessed the Prime Minister comfort the El Baf family when their four sons joined Islamic State.

“When the El Baf family - all four of their kids - went to Syria with the Islamic State, Scott went to their house and he saw the agonising tears of a mother whose sons had erroneously joined Islamic State,” Dr Rifi said. “He was distraught.”

Sydney doctor Jamal Rifi says the allegations do not square with his dealings with the Prime Minister.Credit: Nic Walker

Dr Rifi also raised concern that the Lebanese community was again being politicised – in this case to attack Mr Morrison.

”To be honest, it does not reflect the man I have got to know since 2009. It hurts me to read that – because there are people trying to get to him through my community,” he said.

“I’ve never found him divisive, I’ve always found him uniting, and I’ve always found him responsive.”

Danny and Leila Abdallah, who lost their daughters Sienna, 8, and Angelina, 12, as well as their son Antony, 13, when they were struck down by a drug-affected driver in western Sydney, said Mr Morrison and his wife Jenny had been a source of immense support since the tragedy.

The Lebanese-Australian couple said what the Prime Minister was being accused of was “out of character” for him.

“Everything that was said about him and the Lebanese community – it’s not correct from what I’ve experienced and from what I know,” Mr Abdallah said.

”From my experience during the tragedy I have been through – there are two members of parliament who have checked in and made a massive effort off camera – it is Scott Morrison and [NSW Labor MP] Jihad Dib. And both of them have enormous respect for one another.“

Former NSW MP John Ajaka, the first Liberal Lebanese member of an Australian parliament, said all of his family voted for Mr Morrison in the 2007 preselection and he thought the allegations were “nonsense”.

“It was late my mother who said to Morrison that she voted for him because she thought he would be prime minister one day,” Mr Ajaka said.

Sutherland Shire Liberal councillor Hassan Awada said he had known Mr Morrison since before he entered parliament and he was “surprised by the allegations”.

“When he first got elected it was his initiative that he and I do regular mosque visits – he wanted to know the Lebanese Muslim community better, and since then we did it every single year,” he said.

One of the other candidates in the 2007 preselection, Mark Speakman, who is now the NSW Attorney-General and the state member for Cronulla, also defended Mr Morrison.

“Locally, Scott has always promoted community harmony and I’ve never seen him do or say anything racist,” Mr Speakman said.

Joseph Assaf, a Lebanese-born Australian businessman who started the non-profit Ethnic Business Awards Foundation, praised Mr Morrison and Senator Fierravanti-Wells and said both of them were genuine and loyal supporters of the Lebanese community.

“In fact, I had the privilege years ago of travelling with Mr Morrison to Lebanon and witnessed the great impact the country and its people impressed upon him,” Mr Assaf said.

Mr Morrison on Sunday said the claims were “just simply untrue”.

Asked whether he would be prepared to sign a statutory declaration denying the allegations, he said “Yes, of course I would” but he hadn’t been asked to as the matter was not before court.

“These are quite malicious, and bitter slurs, which are deeply offensive, and I reject them absolutely,” he said.

“People will throw all sorts of mud at you – particularly when you get up close to an election and they’ll make all sorts of things up, because they have other motivations.”

“My record of caring and loving the Lebanese community in this country speaks for itself and stands head and shoulders above all the other pretenders.”

Social Services Minister Anne Ruston labelled the accusations a “political hit-job”, while Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said no one had ever come to him with concerns about Mr Morrison’s language or behaviour.

Assistant Treasurer Michael Sukkar also backed Mr Morrison by issuing a message on social media.

“As one of the few Australians of Lebanese descent in the Parliament, I feel compelled to weigh in on recent media reports concerning Scott Morrison,” he wrote.

“In my experience, there is no MP, let alone PM, who’s shown more support, care and respect for the Australian Lebanese community.”

Jacqueline Maley cuts through the noise of the federal election campaign with news, views and expert analysis. Sign up to our Australia Votes 2022 newsletter here.