An Australian cricket star has accused Peter Dutton of “inciting Islamophobia” and warned that a government with more Muslim candidates would be a “disaster”.
The Opposition Leader made the statement on Thursday morning when answering questions at a press conference in Queanbeyan, in south-east New South Wales.
Mr Dutton said it would be disastrous for Australians if a raft of new candidates from other factions formed a minority Labor government.
“I think it does show that if the Prime Minister is in a minority government in the next term of parliament, he will include the Greens, he will include the Green Teals, he will include Muslim candidates from Western Sydney. It will be a disaster,” he said.
‘If you think the Albanian government is bad now, wait until it becomes a minority government with the Greens, the Green Teals and independent Muslims.
“That is not the formula to lower food prices and get our economy back on track,” he said.
‘Under such a government, inflation will continue to rise and interest rates will rise.’
Australian cricket star Usman Khawaja slammed Dutton’s comments, accusing the politician of “stoking Islamophobia from above”.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said it would be a “disaster” if a raft of new candidates from other factions found their way into a minority Labor government.
Australian cricket star Usman Khawaja accused Mr Dutton of ‘stoking Islamophobia’
The cricketer criticised Mr Dutton’s comments as ‘intolerance at its finest’ in a post on X (pictured)
“As a Muslim who grew up in Western Sydney, I find this comment from someone running for prime minister an absolute disgrace,” he wrote on X on Thursday.
‘Bigotry at its best. Fanning Islamophobia from the top.’
Lawyer Bede Kelleher agreed that Mr Dutton’s comments were “despicable bigotry”.
“I don’t expect much from our politicians, but this is terrible,” he said.
Writer and left-wing activist Jeff Sparrow called the statement “pure racism.”
“Imagine the reaction if he had warned about ‘Jewish candidates from North Sydney’. It would have been the end of his career, and rightly so,” he wrote.
Ny Breaking Australia has contacted Mr Dutton’s office for comment.
Mr Dutton’s comments came on a chaotic day for Labor, when Western Australia’s first-term senator Fatima Payman announced she was leaving the party.
“If you think the Albanian government is bad now, wait until it becomes a minority government with the Greens, the Green Teals and independent Muslims,” Mr Dutton said on Thursday (the opposition leader is pictured with his wife Kirilly at the 2024 Midwinter Ball)
In her tearful farewell speech, Ms Payman said she had been “ostracised” by her colleagues after she left the chamber and sided with the Greens on a motion to recognise the state of Palestine.
“It is with a heavy heart, but a clear conscience, that I have announced my resignation from the Australian Labor Party,” she said.
‘I will be joining the board with immediate effect to represent the people of Western Australia.’
Ms Payman attacked Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, saying his claim yesterday that she had been planning to go it alone for a month was untrue.
She also stressed that she would not lead a new “Teal Muslim” movement, as has been widely rumored.
Mr Dutton’s comments came on a chaotic day for Labor – with first-term Western Australian senator Fatima Payman (pictured) announcing she would leave the party on Thursday
Initially, Ms Payman was given little more than a slap on the wrist, but her decision to appear in an unauthorised interview with the ABC, in which she proudly said she would return to the floor when the time came, prompted the Prime Minister to intervene again.
She was suspended indefinitely by the party, while senior labor ministers promised she would be welcomed back if she behaved as a team player.
If the Labour Party does not get support from the coalition, the Labour Party will now have to negotiate with Ms Payman as part of the crossbench when passing legislation in the Senate.
To achieve a Senate majority without the Coalition, Labor needs the support of all 11 Greens, plus three members of the eight-member crossbench.