Dutton denies parliamentary reproach — but if the 'racist' cap fits

The Opposition attempted to pick a fight over immigration in the first sitting week of Parliament since the winter break, only to suffer a strong backlash.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton called for a halt to accepting humanitarian refugees from war-torn Gaza. This call came hot on the heels of his recent visit to Israel, sponsored by the Australia Israel and Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC).

On that visit – and in Parliament this week – Dutton has repeatedly stated that Israel is an “ally” of Australia. In fact, Australia does not share an alliance treaty with Israel, which is the reason Australian prime ministers describe Israel as a “friend” and not an ally.

Dutton dotes on Israel during visit organised by pro-Israel lobby group

Australian politicians – lately, Peter Dutton – have enjoyed political junkets to Israel more than any other destination. Very few of them go to Gaza to see what’s really happening.

Dutton called Israel our “ally” when he “pledged to ‘rebuild’ Australia’s relationship with Israel”. In doing so, he not only showed his lack of knowledge of Australia’s global alliances but also used the opportunity to plant the seed that the relationship needed rebuilding.

Traditionally, national security and defence issues such as these have largely received bipartisan support in parliament and on the world stage from travelling Opposition MPs. Rarely do Opposition Leaders go on sponsored trips just to cosy up to the Government of the day — most have had more respect for democracy than that.

This week in Parliament, whilst moving a motion to suspend standing orders, Dutton misled the House and the Australian people by again calling Israel our “ally”.

The Opposition Leader told the House of Representatives on Thursday:

“They are an ally of our country.”

Dutton’s calls for the halt to accepting refugees from Gaza had been dutifully echoed by the Coalition throughout the week with similar question after question on Palestinian immigration from members on the Opposition benches.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese repeatedly told members that immigration procedures currently in place are identical to those of the previous Government. The Prime Minister accused the Opposition of undermining Australia’s national security measures and workforce.

During Question Time this week, the PM said:

"The arrangements that we have in place are the same that were in place under the former Government. The role of ASIO [Australian Security Intelligence Organisation]; the use of the movement alert list; the processes we use to vet visa applicants are all unchanged."

Despite this, Opposition questions on the issue continued unabated.

Media feasts on Peter Dutton's monotonous mumblings

Hands up if you’re tired of hearing what Peter Dutton has to say.

Nationals’ Leader David Littleproud held a press conference to defend calls to halt humanitarian refugees from Gaza.

It received national attention because Greens’ Senator Sarah Hanson-Young walked through it and suggested Littleproud, “say something about the children being slaughtered” — a reference to the thousands of innocent Palestinian children who have been killed, maimed or orphaned by Israeli bombs and missile strikes in recent months.

On Thursday morning, during Dutton’s attempt to suspend standing orders, Independent Member for Warringah Zali Steggall told the Opposition Leader to “stop being racist” — a comment which Dutton demanded she withdraw.

“Racist” is a term that has dogged Peter Dutton throughout his political career and it has done so again this week.

As reported by the ABC:

'On Thursday, Dutton reaffirmed his position in a heated interview on Nine’s Today Show in which he rebuffed accusations he was "racist" or "heartless".'

Though he continues to suggest otherwise, Dutton’s comments over the years have been interpreted by the media and many others as racist.

He has opined that Lebanese immigration was a “mistake” and walked out of the Stolen Generations Apology to First Nations people. He held hardline positions on the Biloela Family when he was Home Affairs Minister in the Coalition Government, calling their children “anchor babies”.

Neither has Dutton shown humanity to asylum seekers fleeing persecution, but, rather, has joked about the effects of climate change on our Pacific neighbours and made false accusations about Melbournians being overwhelmingly afraid of “African gangs”.

Peter Dutton’s humanity is rarely seen — though was most notably shown to White South African farmers and au pairs when he was a minister.

In 2016, Dutton was Minister for Immigration during the Baby Asha affair, when a one-year-old baby was brought from detention in Nauru for medical treatment of burns.

At the time, parallels were drawn with the “children overboard affair”, which played a significant role in the election that first saw Dutton voted in.

Then-Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock said in October 2001:

“A number of children had been thrown overboard, again with the intention of putting us under duress”.

This claim that asylum-seeker parents were deliberately throwing their children overboard was later proven to be untrue. Dutton was elected one month after Ruddock made this spurious claim, echoing similar claims by then-Defence Minister Peter Reith at the time.

The Howard Government was re-elected in November 2001 after the children overboard lie — the election came before the truth was revealed. Peter Dutton cut his political teeth in this unethical environment, which goes some way to explain his chequered political career and inability to be a significant electoral threat to Anthony Albanese.

Peter Dutton — the boy who cried 'boats!'

Liberal Leader Peter Dutton is warning of a ‘looming disaster’ of boat arrivals.

In the case of Baby Asha, Dutton was accused by Greens Leader Adam Bandt of inferring the child had been deliberately injured by her parents so as to get to Australia.

In another case, Dutton maintained his incorrect account of an incident on Manus Island involving a young boy, despite his account being rejected by detainees and police.

In all these cases involving asylum seekers, Dutton argued that his motives for such hardline stances were based purely on national security, not racism. Again, this week, he has repeated these same arguments but this time to a growing backlash, inside and outside of Parliament.

Recently, in the wake of similar pushes towards right-wing hardline stances like Dutton’s on immigration and other issues, there has been a global shift in popular support for humanitarianism and peaceful outcomes.

In the UK, violent racist protests were met with much larger peaceful protests. The hardline Right failed at the recent French and UK elections, and the elevation of current U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris as a presidential candidate has turned the tide on the U.S. presidential campaign.

Australian polls and political commentators are predicting a possible minority Labor Government at the next Federal Election, with Liberals likely to lose more ground to Independents and minor parties.

Neither polls nor the mainstream conservative media are brave enough to speculate that the Coalition will be electorally competitive under Dutton, even if Dutton’s Liberal candidates do manage to nominate on time — unlike their NSW local council candidates who missed the deadline for nominations this week.

After 23 years as a politician, Dutton’s pleas that he is not racist are becoming increasingly tedious and more difficult to believe. Australians know there is simply too much evidence to the contrary littered throughout those years.

Humanitarians don’t have to constantly explain to others that they are not racist, yet this is something that Dutton has become well versed at doing — again and again and again.

Questions remain: how many believe him? When will he be accused of making racist remarks again?

If history is anything to go by, it shouldn’t be long.