Daniel Andrews Casually Owns “Irrelevant” Peter Dutton Over His Latest African Gangs Comments
"Very few people take Mr. Dutton seriously."
Hello, police? I’d like to report a murder. Because Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews just casually tore Peter Dutton’s head off over the so-called African gangs crisis without even breaking a sweat.
Andrews was addressing the media on Thursday when he was asked about Dutton’s appearance on Sydney radio earlier that day, during which the Home Affairs spud criticised “Victoria’s problem” with African gang violence.
“The way in which the police are dealing with these criminals, the direction given to the police by the government, it all makes a mess,” Dutton told 2GB. “The Victorian government needs to fix it before someone gets hurt.”
“[Peter Dutton] is very good at talking down Melbourne from Sydney,” said Andrews. “Look, he’s talking about serious issues, but very few people I think take Mr. Dutton seriously now.”
“He’s part of a government that is a shambles, and he’s irrelevant to the work that we’re doing.”
Andrews added that his government was giving Victoria Police “every resource they need” to fight crime, before citing numbers from the Crime Statistics Agency which indicate offence rates in the state are actually going down.
“I’m very proud of Victoria Police for the work they’re doing,” he said. “I think Mr. Dutton might need to be briefed on what’s going on in Victoria before he bags Victoria on Sydney radio, which seems to be very much the way he operates.”
This isn’t the first time Dutton has stoked fears about African gangs in Victoria. In January, he infamously claimed people in Melbourne were “scared to go out to restaurants at night time because they are followed home by these gangs”.
For what it’s worth, the Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police called those comments “complete and utter garbage” and has pointed out that African gangs aren’t really a thing. But that hasn’t stopped Dutton and his mates in the Liberal Party indulging in a little race-based fear-mongering ahead of the state election in November.
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h/t The Herald Sun