Politics

Peter Dutton branded Australia’s ‘most unwanted’ politician

Jan 18, 2019

Peter Dutton has been labelled Australia's "most unwanted" politician in an online poll by GetUp. Source: Getty

Peter Dutton has been named Australia’s “most unwanted” politician in an online poll run by left-leaning activist group GetUp.

The Minister for Home Affairs came out on top with 22,028 Aussies voting the as the “hard-right” politician they would most like to see booted out of parliament at the upcoming federal election.

Dutton was shortlisted in the poll due to his desire to “abandon the Paris Agreement”, his ministerial responsibilities for Manus and Nauru and the failed leadership coup he launched against then-Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in August last year.

In a post shared on the GetUp Twitter page, the group said their aim is to free parliament of the “unwanted” politicians who are holding back progress on certain issues.

“Freeing parliament from politicians like these guys could pave the way for action to address climate change and end the deliberate inhumane treatment of refugees,” GetUp wrote.

It’s official! Peter Dutton is Australia’s most unwanted politician, closely followed by Tony Abbott.

Freeing Parliament from politicians like these guys could pave the way for action to address climate change and end the deliberate inhumane treatment of refugees.
Let's do it! pic.twitter.com/VhPZ4eMxWT

— GetUp! (@GetUp) January 17, 2019

Speaking out following the announcement on Thursday, Dutton claimed the results won’t have any negative effect on residents in his division.

“GetUp is affiliated with the Greens and Labor,” he said in a statement. “It’s run by left-wing extremists and to be at odds with GetUp extremists is a badge of honour. Ironically the more they attack me personally the more people in Dickson get turned off their fanatical rants.”

Other politicians highlighted in the poll were Tony Abbott in second position with 15,932 people claiming they want the pollie out of parliament, followed by George Christensen with 6,090, Barnaby Joyce with 5,065 and Christian Porter rounding off the top five with 4,458 votes.

Current Prime Minister Scott Morrison also made an appearance in the number six spot with 3,835, along with Greg Hunt with 2,312 and Josh Frydenberg with 1,851.

With the results of the poll in the public domain, GetUp National Director Pail Oosting said the group will now work to determine which “hard right” MPs they target in the upcoming election in May.

According to Oosting, GetUp will be ramping up its campaign in the coming months in an attempt to sway voters ahead of the federal election.

“Australia can become a world leader in renewable energy. We can close Manus and Nauru and ensure all refugees find safety,” he told Starts at 60. “We can make the ABC bigger and better than ever before. We can stop tormenting jobseekers and start talking about a National Jobs Guarantee. If, and only if, we sweep away the hard right wreckers for good.”