Opposition Leader Defends Comments Comparing Anti-Semitism to Major Gun Massacre

Members of the Australian Palestinian community and supporters wave Palestinian flags as others hold placards and banners during a protest in central Sydney on March 3, 2024. (Photo by DAVID GRAY / AFP) Photo by DAVID GRAY/AFP via Getty Images

After initially appearing to walk back comments comparing pro-Palestine protests outside the Sydney Opera House last year, to the Port Arthur Massacre—that killed 35 people and wounded 23—Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has come out on morning television to say, “I don’t resile from that at all.”

He said the comparison was about the prime minister’s leadership rather than the gravity of the two events, saying Anthony Albanese had failed to act to try to reduce anti-semitism in Australia.

“That’s the parallel that I’m making,” he told the Today show, “To the absolute absence of leadership from the prime minister at the moment, which has given rise to those in the Jewish community talking about feeling unsafe in our country.

“You’ve got a contrast, I think, with [former Prime Minister] John Howard, who stood up at a point of national importance for our country, demonstrated leadership and changed the course of history for the better.”

Frontbenchers Defend Their Leader

His frontbench team blanketed morning media on April 12 to defend their leader, with shadow minister for home affairs, James Paterson, pointing out that data from the Executive Council of Australian Jewry showed a 700 to 800 percent increase in anti-semitic incidents following the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7.

He claimed Anthony Albanese has “made a false moral equivalence” between Islamophobia and anti-semitism, telling the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), “They’re both equally morally repugnant, that’s clear, but one of them is much more prevalent” and that, while there were no deaths at the protest, it was “comparable on its social impact on Australia.

“I think Peter [Dutton] was expressing a very well-founded concern which is widely held in the community—particularly in the Jewish community—that we haven’t done enough to respond to this crisis of anti-semitism.”

While he admitted that Islamophobia was also an issue, he said: “It has increased since 7 October, but just nowhere near as much as anti-semitism has.”

A similar defence was mounted by Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor, who described the speech as a “clarion call” to “stand up against the rising tide of antisemitism in the country, which is something that [the] prime minister has failed to do,” while deputy leader Sussan Ley told morning TV’s Sunrise that, “Peter is a conviction politician who says what he means, not what he expects people to hear.”

Sole Liberal Critic

One Liberal MP to break ranks on the issue is backbencher Bridget Archer, who represents the Tasmanian seat of Bass. Tasmania is the state where Port Arthur is located.

“[Mr. Dutton’s comments were] incredibly disrespectful to the victims and survivors of one of the darkest days in our nation’s history and a wholly inappropriate and somewhat bizarre comparison,” Ms. Archer said.

Asked about Ms. Archer’s statement, Mr. Dutton said it was “one backbencher whom I respect but has a different view on many issues and that’s fine.”

Government Criticises Dutton

The Labor government has castigated the opposition leader over his remarks, which he made during a speech in Sydney on April 10, warning about the rise in anti-semitism after Foreign Minister Penny Wong appeared to back Palestinian statehood.

Government Services Minister Bill Shorten was also on the Today show and said that while he agreed “some Jewish people do feel unsafe in this country for the first time, [and] it needs to be called out ... the one thing that Mr. Dutton has made a mistake about … is conflating it with Port Arthur.

“They’re two separate issues. Port Arthur was a shocking, murderous, evil act in Australia.

“[The opposition leader] should work with the prime minister to call out inflammatory language here rather than throw kero on the bonfire of hate.”

Federal education minister, Jason Clare, speaking on Sunrise, said: “If you want to run the country, you can’t run your mouth.

“Last week, Peter Dutton took the side of another country that killed an Australian citizen. This week, he’s using the murder in cold blood of 35 Australians to try to make a political point. This bloke is all aggro and no judgment …

“You have other Liberals like Bridget Archer, the Tasmanian MP—respected on all sides of the parliament—who has condemned Peter Dutton’s words here and called on him to apologise.

The prime minister said he was “taken aback” by Mr. Dutton’s speech, while the New South Wales Premier Chris Minns told the opposition leader to “keep NSW police out of the federal political fight”—NSW police were involved in handling the Sydney Opera House protests.

Greens Senator Nick McKim, from Tasmania, called the comments disrespectful and said “Dutton can stay out of Tasmania for good.”

Another Tasmanian politician, Labor’s federal member for Lyons, Brian Mitchell—whose electorate includes Port Arthur—called the events of 1996 an “unspeakable tragedy” and said, “The Australian people put politics aside and came together in common purpose.

“As the local member here, I would ask Peter Dutton to reflect on that and refrain from making such divisive and inflammatory comments using the tragedy in our community.”