A key ally of Anthony Albanese has defended Labor ministerial colleagues who called opposition leader Peter Dutton a “protector of pedophiles” in parliament.
On Wednesday, Home Secretary Clare O'Neil used a debate on the government's asylum seeker debacle to use the phrase about Mr Dutton.
A day later, Sports Minister Anika Wells was asked on the Today show whether she agreed that Mr Dutton was a 'protector of paedophiles' and replied: 'Yes'.
And on Sunday, Agriculture Minister Murray Watt denied that his colleagues had gone too far, saying the Liberal leader had voted against legislation to stop convicted pedophiles from coming near schools.
“Politics is a rough game and people need to be held accountable for how they vote,” Watt said on the Sky News show Sunday Agenda.
A key ally of Anthony Albanese (pictured) has defended Labor ministerial colleagues who called opposition leader Peter Dutton a 'protector of paedophiles' in parliament
And on Sunday, Agriculture Minister Murray Watt (pictured) denied his colleagues had gone too far, saying the Liberal leader had voted against legislation to stop convicted pedophiles from coming near schools.
'And the truth is that Peter Dutton and the opposition voted against the laws we have introduced which, for example, aim to prevent convicted pedophiles from being near school grounds.'
Mr Dutton, a former police officer who has long been an outspoken advocate for child safety, said the comments suggested the government was “getting really desperate”.
“I've arrested sex offenders before. It is one of my life's passions to ensure that women and children are safe. “I feel very sincerely and deeply about it,” he said.
'Yes, the comments hurt, but they mean nothing to me because I know who I am. “I think I owe an apology from Anika Wells and the Prime Minister,” he said.
But Mr Watt said: 'You need to be accountable for how you vote. And… the language used to describe these actions is no different from what Peter Dutton himself has used.
'Is Peter Dutton about to appoint himself Australia's chief censor, say what language can and cannot be used, and then ignore those rules?
“That seems to be happening here,” the Queensland Labor senator said.
Labour's attack on Dutton is widely seen as an attempt to deflect blame from a court case in which 141 asylum seekers were released from indefinite detention.
On November 8, the Supreme Court ruled that the indefinite detention of pedophile rapist NZYQ, a Rohingya asylum seeker, was unconstitutional, prompting the Labor government to also release 140 others.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton (pictured) has long been an outspoken advocate for child safety
On Thursday, Mr Dutton said NZYQ was the only prisoner to be released after the decision, and that the government had pre-emptively released the others when it was not necessary.
“The government has completely botched this,” he told Ray Hadley on 2GB radio.
'The government itself made a decision regarding the remaining approximately 140 asylum seekers, while this was not necessary.
'No wonder they're panicking. This is a complete disaster.'
But Mr Watt strongly defended his colleagues, saying: 'Clare O'Neill and Anika Wells are among our strongest performers. They are very capable, competent ministers.
“And all they've done is use language that… Peter Dutton himself used.”
Ms O'Neil used parliamentary privilege in the House of Representatives on Wednesday to claim Mr Dutton was protecting pedophiles as he refused to support a motion that would, among other things, punish child sex offenders caught within a certain distance of schools.
She also claimed he was an advocate of child sex offenders, after one of his frontbenchers, Senator Dean Smith, campaigned against Immigration Minister Andrew Giles to release a convicted sex offender into the community.
Home Secretary Clare O'Neil (pictured centre) first cast aspersions on Mr Dutton on Wednesday
Mr Dutton (pictured right) is a former police officer. He said the government is 'getting really desperate'
In a letter to Mr Giles, Senator Smith noted that the perpetrator, whose visa had been revoked due to his convictions, had had sex with a girl aged between 13 and 16. The refugee was 21 years old when he committed the offense.
Mr Dutton told Hadley that Mr Albanese “didn't have the guts to say what he told ministers to do”.
He said the coalition voted against the bill because they had tried to argue for tougher restrictions, which were not included.
“The personal attacks – yes, they hurt. But they mean nothing to me. It is the opposite of who I am and what I believe… This is a desperate Prime Minister who has run out of options,” he said.