Dutton kicks football, goes horribly wrong

Yahoo

05-04-2025

A Channel 10 cameraman has fallen victim to Peter Dutton's right foot, as the Opposition Leader visits a Northern Territory football oval.
Mr Dutton stopped by Cazalys Oval, the home of the Palmerston Magpies AFL Club, on the eighth day of the election campaign.
The electorate of Solomon is held by Labor's Luke Gosling on a 9.4 per cent margin but the Coalition's strong anti-crime stance and voter protest due to high cost-of-living pressures had led to Coalition hopes they could swing a few residents.
Likely front of mind was the Liberal camp's desire to avoid a repeat of Scott Morrison bulldozing a child soccer player during the 2022 election.
He told the young players it was 'time' to give the club some investment and 'get some young players drafted', promising to invest $5 million to the grounds if elected.
There were no trips and falls but Channel 10 cameraman Ghaith Nadir did unfortunately cop a ball to the forehead that was kicked by Mr Dutton.
Mr Dutton was kicking the ball to the junior Magpies player when the mishap occured.
The ball initially landed of the camera man's viewfinder and then the viewfinder collided with Mr Nadir's head, which resulted in the bloody injury.
'That's your exclusive vision,' Mr Dutton joked, before personally apologising to Mr Nadir.
While the collision did cause a bit of a gash, NewsWire can confirm the cameraman was ok.
Mr Nadir was immediately seen by an on-hand medic and was seen shaking hands with Mr Dutton after the event.
He currently sporting a bandage around his forehead and was seen joking with colleagues after the minor collision.
Mr Dutton jokingly denied to Sky News that this was his Scott Morrison Bulldozer moment.
'I was expecting him to mark it. I was sure he could take that shot,' he said.
'He's good. I just saw him then, so hopefully he's able to get it dressed properly but the AFP did a great job.'
The rogue kick comes eight days into the five-week election campaign that, bar two fuel stations, hasn't seen Mr Dutton in uncontrolled environments like supermarkets and cafes.
While the oval was largely cleared out expect for the media, football club representatives and Mr Dutton's team, the AFl field was the least manufactured environment we've seen him in yet.
Other notable election moments from this trip include the two protestors from climate action group Rising Tide on the first day of the campaign trail.
Of course Anthony Albanese also had a little trip while giving a speech in Cessnock, NSW on Thursday.
The Prime Minister has denied he fell and instead says he just 'stepped back onto a step'.
The Coalition committed $5m to upgrade the Cazalys Oval, which will upgrade the venue's change rooms and toilets to make them gender neutral and lighting upgrades.
Mr Dutton said he wanted more children to get involved in sport, whatever the code.
'It's great for their socialization skills, and to be working in a team environment is a fantastic thing,' he said.
'There are 40,000 (people in the NT who participate in AFL). I want to make sure that that number can grow and that they're able to enjoy the facilities that we would expect in any capital city in any part of the East Coast.'
The pledge promises to deliver a 'premier regional sports precinct'.