Twitter Is Sharing Peter Dutton’s Most Repugnant Moments As A Politician
After his coronavirus diagnosis, people are sharing the most repugnant moments in Peter Dutton's career.
Yesterday, Peter Dutton confirmed in a press release that he had tested positive for coronavirus. And almost immediately, the internet lit up.
After all, the man is one of the least popular politicians in Australia, and he has long been a lightning rod for discussions about civility politics — as in, how ‘well’ we should treat our politicians, even those that we disagree with.
Thoughts & prayers, fuck head. https://t.co/bx6EzDXtdn
— Senator Briggs (@Briggs) March 13, 2020
The debate over how we treat our political opponents is a complex one. But, as many pointed out on Twitter, in the specific case of Dutton, it is much less so.
See, for every call to treat Dutton with civility following his coronavirus diagnosis, there is a repugnant action in Dutton’s past to counter it.
And quickly, Twitter users began sharing those moments.
One in particular, Shane Bazzi, a refugee advocate, compiled an extremely extensive mega-thread of the Minister’s worst moments.
fuck the Dutton civility takes. The man has tortured and vilified refugees and other minorities for years.
— Shane Bazzi (@shanebazzi) March 13, 2020
Here are just some of those moments.
That Time Peter Dutton Boycotted The Apology To The Stolen Generations
As reported by Junkee: “Peter Dutton was one of only a handful of MPs who refused to attend Kevin Rudd’s apology to the Stolen Generation in 2008. That’s right, on one of the most important days in our Parliament’s history, he was nowhere to be found.”
That Time He Said His Labor Opponent Was Using Her Disability “As An Excuse”
As reported by Junkee: “In an unprecedented rant, Dutton has claimed that Ali France, the Labor candidate running for his Queensland seat of Dickson, has used her disability ‘as an excuse.'”
That Time He Joked About Sea-Level Rise
As reported by the ABC: “Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has been overheard quipping about the plight of Pacific Island nations facing rising seas from climate change.”
That Time He Said Women Were Using Rape Claims As A “Ploy” To Get Into Australia
As reported by The Guardian: “Peter Dutton has said women have been “trying it on” in claiming they were raped and needed an abortion as part of a ploy to get to Australia for medical treatment from refugee centres on Nauru.”
That Time He Called The Biloela Tamil Children “Anchor Babies”
As reported by Junkee: “Home Affairs minister Peter Dutton has referred to the children of a Sri Lankan family trying to stay in Australia as ‘anchor babies’, in a gross escalation of the government’s war against the asylum seeker family.”
That Time He Referred Author And Activist Bruce Pascoe To The Police
As reported by Junkee: “Author Bruce Pascoe, best-known for his acclaimed non-fiction work Dark Emu, has reportedly been referred to the police by Peter Dutton over claims Pascoe has benefited from misleading others about his Indigenous identity.”
That Time He Tried To Gaslight Us Into Thinking Refugees Will Steal Our Hospital Beds
As reported by Junkee: “Peter Dutton has been accused of waging a ‘cruel’ scare campaign against ‘vulnerable Australians’ by independent MP Kerryn Phelps, after the Home Affairs Minister made the extraordinary claim that asylum seekers brought to Australia from Nauru and Manus Island will receive medical treatment at the expense of Australian citizens.”
That Time He Tried To Blame A Teen’s Death On ‘African Gangs’
As reported by Junkee: “South Sudanese-Australian teen Laa Chol was killed in a brutal attack at the start of the weekend. By Sunday evening, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton had labelled the 19-year-old’s death as part of a ‘major law and order problem in Victoria’.”
That Time He Called A Female Journalist A ‘Mad Witch’
As reported by Junkee: “In an apparent gesture of solidarity with Briggs, Dutton fired off a text message calling Maiden “a mad fucking witch” sometime yesterday. The reason we know this? Instead of sending that text message to Briggs, presumably the intended recipient, Dutton somehow managed to send it off to Samantha Maiden instead.”