Dutton’s visa outburst: Lefty immigration critics are dead to me

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has publicly slammed what he calls “crazy lefties” in the media for their coverage of his proposal to give fast-tracked visas to white South African farmers at risk of losing their homes, livelihoods and lives.

The minister appeared on 2GB radio on Thursday morning where he discussed his views on the current South Africa issue with host Ray Hadley. He sparked outrage with his initial comments last week, with everyone from Foreign Minister Julie Bishop Julie Bishop to South African officials and even outspoken activist Yassmin Abdel-Magied weighing in on the debate.

It all started last Thursday when Dutton appeared on the Miranda Devine podcast where he detailed the “horrific” conditions white South Africans are facing in their home country after their government announced it would confiscate land from them without compensation. Dutton commented at the time that white South African farmers would make ideal immigrant candidates. “They want to work hard, they want to contribute to a country like Australia,” he explained on the podcast. “We want people that come here and abide by our laws, integrate into our society, work hard, not lead a life on welfare, and I think these people deserve special attention.”

Bishop appeared on Sunday’s episode of Insiders on the ABC where she agreed that violence was on the rise in South Africa, but denied that anyone would be given special treatment under the humanitarian visa program. “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 said. “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.”

Bishop’s comments sparked stories that she and Dutton were feuding over the issue, as well as accusations of racism because Dutton appeared to be favouring white South Africans over other needy would-be immigrants. But Dutton told Ray Hadley today that speculation of a falling out with Bishop was “fake news”.

“The ABC and others report these things how they want to report them and how they want to interpret them,” he explained to Hadley. “There’s a lot of outrage. Some of the crazy lefties at the ABC and on The Guardian, Huffington Post, express concern and draw mean cartoons about me and all the rest of it.”

He even went as far as to say that he no longer even considered these media outlets when it came to the coverage government decisions received. “They don’t realise how completely dead they are to me,” he continued. “So we just get on with making the decisions that we need to do.”

Dutton reiterated that he wasn’t racist and that his comments about South Africa had been taken out of context. “I’m completely blind as to somebody’s skin colour, it makes no difference to me,” he insisted. “It concerns me that people are being persecuted at the moment. The number of people dying or being savagely attacked in South Africa is a reality.”

He also said that despite the backlash, he intended on working through applications from South Africans who wished to move to Australia.

“We’ll start to work through those and if people meet the criteria under the program then they’ll settle under the program here, that’s the reality,” Dutton added. “If people think that I’m going to cower or take a backwards step because of their nonsense fabricated fake news criticism, they’ve got another think coming.”

The South African foreign ministry has played down reports that the country’s farmers are under threat and has even demanded an apology from Australia and Dutton for his comments. “There is no reason for any government anywhere in the world to suspect that any South African is in danger from their own democratically elected government. That threat simply does not exist,” the government said.

Is Dutton right to lash out at the ABC and left-leaning media, or should he accept that many media outlets have a political bias of one sort or another? Do you think South Africans should be given special treatment when it comes to visas to Australia?