Culture

The Questions Peter Dutton Wasn’t Asked On 7.30 Last Night Are Much Better Than The Ones He Was

If they seem unnecessarily savage, you haven't been paying attention to the government's offshore processing program.

by Hannah Hawkins  4 February 2016

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Yesterday afternoon, ahead of their interview with Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, ABC’s 7.30 Report put out a call on social media for any questions people wanted him asked. It came shortly after the announcement that the minister would be deporting 267 asylum seekers, including 54 children and 37 babies, back to Nauru after a High Court challenge was defeated. Most of the asylum seekers had been in Australia to receive emergency treatment for serious physical and/or mental conditions, and doctors have strongly urged the government not to send them back to the source of the trauma.

So, with that fresh hell in mind — and the fact that Dutton has always been the internet’s punching bag for myriad reasons, which don’t exclude his face looking like a Snapchat filter — it should come as no surprise at all that 7.30‘s call-out was hit with a wave of absolute fury. Among some of the sillier suggestions, were lots of very serious, hard-hitting but totally fair questions — and most of them were rhetorical.

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But sadly, when 7.30pm rolled around, none of these more impassioned questions made it into the script. Although Dutton was confronted with some of the more horrific allegations of brutality, his demeanour remained eerily chill and stable, and his head didn’t implode at all. He dodged questions, consistently repeated himself and implied the asylum seekers’ doctors and lawyers have lied or exaggerated their cases.

It seems Immigration Minister Peter Dutton will not prosecute the whistle-blowing doctors who risked jail time by speaking to us about the children they treated who have lived in Australian detention centres.He’s also confirmed that compensation is being discussed for 9 Save The Children staff after review found that the Federal Government’s allegations against them were unfounded. They were removed from Nauru after raising concerns of sexual harrassment from guards. The then Immigration Minister, Scott Morrison suggested the group had orchestrated a campaign to undermine the Government’s offshore detention policy. More: http://ab.co/1Kih756

Posted by 7.30 on Wednesday, 3 February 2016

Perhaps Leigh Sales’ stand-in, Matt Wordsworth, isn’t up to par on mercilessly drilling controversial and extremely hated politicians, or maybe Dutton is just getting very good at avoiding questions. Either way, it seems most people agree he got off easy.

 

Dutton has yet to respond to the news this morning that various churches around the country are offering refuge to the asylum seekers due to be sent back to Nauru. The church officials, who are appealing for authorities not to enter the cathedrals to remove any asylum seekers, risk being arrested and fined for obstruction.