Peter Dutton is racist. Here’s the proof

Crikey’s series explores Dutton’s history of racism as well as the role racism has played on both sides of politics since the 1970s.

Race and racism have long played a role in Australian politics. Malcolm Fraser was attacked by Labor for extending humanitarian migration to South Vietnamese refugees. John Howard sought to weaponise Asian migration in the 1980s. In the wake of 9/11 and Tampa, the Howard government made a virtue of its tough line on asylum seekers and Australians of Muslim background, while Howard’s refusal to engage with Indigenous peoples came to characterise his prime ministership. The rise of the Islamic State once again saw Australia’s Muslim community targeted by Coalition politicians. The Gillard government made a virtue of its crackdown on temporary migrants.

But Peter Dutton stands out as the most plainly racist Australian political leader since the White Australia policy. Here’s the proof below.

Boycott of Stolen Generations Apology

February 13, 2008

Dutton walks out of Parliament rather than hear the Apology to the Stolen Generations by then prime minister Kevin Rudd.

Dutton says he “made a mistake” in his decision to boycott the Apology when elected Liberal leader in May 2022.¹ Dutton repeats his apology on the 15th anniversary of the Apology to the Stolen Generations in 2023.²

Comments on Wilson Tuckey’s observations about Indigenous peoples

March 15, 2010

Liberal MP Wilson Tuckey said acknowledgements of Traditional Owners were a “farce”, that some Indigenous peoples who perform Welcome To Country ceremonies were “grossly overweight”, that the “best” Indigenous peoples had got out of Australia was a “population of 300,000 people”, and that the 1967 referendum was “the worst thing that’s happened for Aboriginal people in history”.¹

Dutton said of Tuckey’s comments: “I don’t have any issue with what Wilson said frankly or his right to say it.”²

Comments on refugees

May 17, 2016

On Sky News, Dutton says about refugees: “They won’t be numerate or literate in their own language, let alone English … These people would be taking Australian jobs, there’s no question about that … For many of them that would be unemployed, they would languish in unemployment queues and on Medicare and the rest of it, so there would be huge cost and there’s no sense in sugar-coating that, that’s the scenario.”¹

Criticism of the Fraser government for bringing in “Lebanese-Muslim” refugees

November 2016

On November 18, 2016, Dutton said: “The reality is Malcolm Fraser did make mistakes in bringing some people inin the 1970s, and we’re seeing that today.”¹

On November 21, pressed to identify which “people” he was referring to, 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.”²

In August 2023, Dutton referred to those comments as “comments that I shouldn’t have made … I’ve apologised for that. But again, when you’re in the thrust of it and in the thick of it, we were dealing with people who had been radicalised and many of them shared a background and that’s sort of the factual reality of what we were dealing with.”³

Twelve months later, Lebanese-Australian community leaders said they were unaware of any apology from Dutton.⁴

Comments on “Armani refugees”

September 28, 2017

Dutton says about refugees travelling to the United States under a deal with the Obama/Trump administrations: “There are a lot of people that haven’t come out of war-ravaged areas, they’re economic refugees — they got on a boat, paid a people smuggler a lot of money … Somebody once said to me that the world’s biggest collection of Armani jeans and handbags [is] up on Nauru waiting for people to collect when they depart.“¹

Each person sent to the US under the deal had been found to be entitled to humanitarian visas.

Comments on “African gangs”

January 3, 2018

Dutton says, “People are scared to go out to restaurants of a [sic] night time because they are followed home by these gangs … Of course it’s African gang violence.”¹

Comments on white South African farmers

March 2018

On March 14, 2018, Dutton says that White South African farmers “deserve special attention” and “need help from a civilised country like ours”.¹

On March 15, Dutton asks Home Affairs to “look at ways that we can provide some assistance” to white South African farmers. “We could provide more visas for people potentially in the humanitarian program … If people are being persecuted, regardless of whether it’s because of religion or the colour of their skin or whatever, we need to provide assistance where we can.”

He added that South Africans “work hard, they integrate well into Australian society, they contribute to make us a better country and they’re the sorts of migrants that we want to bring into our country.“

Comments on “Sudanese gangs”

July 22, 2018

Dutton says, “There is a major law and order problem in Victoria and more people are going to be hurt until the rule of law is enforced by the Victorian government. We don’t have these problems with Sudanese gangs in NSW or Queensland.”¹

Criticism of Muslim community leaders for harming counter-terrorism efforts

November 11, 2018

In the wake of the fatal Bourke St attack by Hassan Khalif Shire Ali, Dutton says, “But it is a time for community members to step up … We need to be realistic about the threat and the idea that community leaders would have information, but withhold it from the police or intelligence agencies is unacceptable.”¹

After the attack, it emerges Shire Ali was well-known to police and ASIO, had had his passport cancelled, and after an AFP assessment was determined as not posing a threat to national security and was not monitored. There is no evidence information about him was withheld.²

Claims the Chinese government is backing Labor

February 10, 2022

Dutton tells Parliament, referring to Anthony Albanese, “We now see evidence, Mr Speaker, that the Chinese Communist Party, the Chinese government, has also made a decision about who they’re going to back in the next federal election, Mr Speaker, and that is open and that is obvious, and they have picked this bloke as that candidate.”¹

Compares China to Nazi Germany

April 25, 2022

Dutton marks Anzac Day by invoking Adolf Hitler, urging Australia to prepare for war, saying the international situation was “a replay in part of what’s happened in the 1930s. You don’t need to overegg it. The Chinese, through their actions, through their words, are on a very deliberate course at the moment and we have to stand up with countries to stare down any act of aggression to make sure that we can keep peace in our region and for our country.”¹

In June 2024, Dutton says he is “pro-China”.²

Warns about Muslim MPs

July 4, 2024

On July 4, in the wake of Fatima Payman’s defection from Labor, Dutton says, “I think what it does demonstrate is that the prime minister, if he’s in a minority government in the next term of Parliament, it will include the Greens, it’ll include the Green-teals, it’ll include Muslim candidates from Western Sydney, it will be a disaster.”¹

Ignores invitation to attend Garma festival

August 2024

On August 2, 2024, Djawa Yunupingu, chair of the Yothu Yindi Foundation, says that Dutton ignored his invitation to the Garma festival, telling NITV, “Of course, I’d be happy to see both the prime minister and the leader of the opposition. I wrote to the leader of the opposition a week ago. He hasn’t replied to me, I haven’t heard from him since. I wonder why?”¹

Demands ban on all Palestinian refugees from Gaza

August 15, 2024

Dutton says “I don’t think people should be coming in through that war zone at all at the moment.”¹

Dutton is asked if he wants to stop “all refugees” coming into the country. He replies, “We should stop people coming in from a war zone”.

“We don’t know if the proper checks haven’t been done … You bring 3,000 people in, let’s say 99% are good. If 1% of people are questionable or sympathisers with a listed terrorist organisation, how on earth is that in our country’s best interests?”

Says Nazi Germany had shame

August 17, 2024

Defending his proposed ban on all Palestinian refugees, Dutton says, “The Nazis tried to conceal their crime of murdering 6 million Jews. Hamas felt no guilt when they carried out their terrorist attack on October 7.”¹

Pro-Israel Jewish groups criticise Dutton’s claim. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry says, “The Nazis were proud of their work but concealed it for various reasons…”²