Politics

South Africa Is Demanding Peter Dutton Retract His Dumb Comments About Persecuted White People

Congratulations Peter Dutton for kicking off a diplomatic scandal.

by Sam Langford  16 March 2018
Peter Dutton is still insulting Malcolm Turnbull, four months after losing his own leadership spill.

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Yesterday, human potato Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said he reckons the Australian government should give “special attention” to white South African farmers seeking refugee or humanitarian visas, because apparently they face a “horrific circumstance” well beyond other refugees or something.

Naturally, he’s already been soundly roasted for saying this, and now the South African government has weighed in to say they’re extremely offended by his comment and would like Dutton to take it back immediately.

Specifically, they wrote that “the South African Government is offended by the statements which have been attributed to the Australian Home Affairs Minister and a full retraction is expected”. They also called in Australia’s High Commissioner for a bit of a chat (read: roast) about it. Ouch.

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Peter Dutton Is Suddenly Very Worried About "Persecuted" Africans, But Only The White Ones

The government’s comment comes after South African experts slammed Dutton’s characterisation of the situation yesterday, saying that while murders in rural South Africa are a problem, there’s no evidence to suggest that white South Africans are especially vulnerable. In fact, representatives of one of South Africa’s leading authorities on crime statistics told The Guardian yesterday that in many areas, young black men face a much higher risk of murder.

Peter Dutton has yet to comment or retract his statements, but to be fair, he’s had a very busy week trying hard to deport refugees and help out the gun lobby.