Dutton, Bandt Trade Blows Over Accusations of Anti-Semitism
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and Greens Leader Adam Bandt have exchanged rhetoric after the former accused the minor left-wing party of being an 'anti-Semitic, Jew-hating party.'
It comes after Dutton was pressed about social media posts by the Liberal Party's candidate for the western Sydney seat of Fowler, Vivek Singha.
Singha has apologised for social media posts during the 2023 Voice to Parliament referendum campaign where he mocked Indigenous Australians, and launched personal attacks against Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek's family.
In one post, he wrote, 'Everybody needs to wake up to the sleeping lazybags (the Alboriginals),' according to ABC.
In October, one post targeted Plibersek directly, asking, 'Why are you of all people standing for others when you couldn't even look after your own daughter's safety.'
Dutton responded saying the posts were 'inappropriate and shouldn't have been made' but insisted the candidate had apologised.
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'I won't take a lecture from the prime minister, who is preferencing the Greens number two,' Dutton said.
'This is an anti-Semitic, Jew-hating party. They have been involved in all sorts of horrible doxxing and comments online that are repugnant but not repudiated by the prime minister.'
Bandt Says Comments Are 'Reprehensible'
Greens leader Adam Bandt rebuked Dutton's comments, calling them 'reprehensible, offensive and utterly untrue.'
He warned that such rhetoric was 'dangerous at a time when far-right movements are emboldened by Donald Trump's presidency.'
'The Liberals are resorting to dangerous lies because their campaign is in freefall,' Bandt said.
Members of the Greens Party have openly supported a tougher stance against Israel.
For example, last year Greens Senator David Shoebridge attended protests against a military exhibition in Melbourne alongside pro-Palestine supporters. Other Greens MPs have joined pro-Palestine encampments at Australian university campuses.
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