Bishop weighs in on Dutton’s ‘racist’ South Africa visa comments

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has today slammed Peter Dutton and his proposed plans to give white South African farmers fast-tracked visas to Australia.

Appearing on Sunday morning’s episode of ABC’s Insiders, Bishop clarified that the farmers wouldn’t be given special treatment over others hoping to enter Australia.

On Thursday, Dutton said white South Africans were facing “horrific” conditions in their home country after their government announced it would confiscate land from them without compensation. “If you see the footage and read the stories, it’s a horrific circumstance that they face, and Australia has a refugee and humanitarian program as well as a number of other visa programs where we have the potential to help some of these people that are being persecuted,” he explained on the Miranda Devine podcast.

“I’ve asked my department to look at options and ways in which we can provide some assistance… People need help, and they need help from a civilised country like ours.”

South Africa’s own foreign ministry has denied there is a threat to South African farmers and urged Dutton to apologise for his remarks. Meanwhile, Bishop has made her stance clear on the matter.

Firstly, she agreed with Dutton when he said that violence rates in South Africa were on the rise. “Australia does monitor the rate of violent crime in South Africa, and there has been a dramatic increase in recent years,” she explained on the show. “Last year there were about 19,000 murders in South Africa, and that’s a very high number for a country of that size.”

Read more: Julie Bishop’s revealed why she never had kids. Does it really matter?

Bishop clarified that there is a humanitarian visa program available for people who feel they are in severe danger, but that it would be considered on merits and not skin colour. “I believe the humanitarian program’s credibility comes from the fact that it is non-discriminatory and that each application is assessed on its merits,” she explained. “That’s been the case under the Turnbull Government, and as far as I’m aware, there are no plans to change that visa program.”

She also denied to comment when asked whether she believed white South African farmers would make better citizens than other immigrants. “There are many South Africans in my own electorate of Curtin, and they make a great contribution to life in Australia, as do so many immigrants from all around the world, they make an incredible contribution to the peace, stability and prosperity of our nation,” she clarified.

Dutton’s comments haven’t only angered South Africa, but also people within Australia. Outspoken activist Yassmin Abdel-Magied branded Dutton’s proposal as “deeply racist” in a Twitter rant earlier this week.

She said that there was no evidence to suggest white people made better citizens than anyone else. “There is no evidence to prove that white people (aka farmers from South Africa) would be more beneficial to Australia than people from other nations (e.g. Rohingya),” she wrote. “As such, it is rubbish to claim they should be provided faster assistance from Australia.”

What do you think? Should certain people be fast-tracked to Australia?