- Opposition defence spokesman Mr Richard Marles has slammed Peter Dutton
- He said Dutton was ‘playing with fire’ when he ‘politicised’ African gang violence
- Mr Marles recommended that Dutton and the federal government ‘butt out’
- Australia will miss out on economic opportunities in Africa at this rate, he said
Richard Marles has slammed Peter Dutton for attacking African-Australian communities
A Victorian Labor leader has warned the Turnbull Government that ‘politicising’ African gang violence is risky and ill-advised.
Opposition defence spokesman Richard Marles has slammed Peter Dutton for attacking African communities and recommended that he ‘butt out’ of the issue, the Herald Sun reported.
‘As a Victorian I do not feel threatened by this issue,’ the Corio MP siad.
‘I have complete confidence in the way the Victorian government is handling it.’
‘Having the federal government weigh in they way they did…They are playing with fire.’
Peter Dutton has previously claimed people in Melbourne are scared to go out because of African gang violence. A group of youths are seen gesturing at police during a confrontation in the city’s west earlier this year
He pointed out that the African community in Australia could be ‘fundamental’ to realising overseas economic opportunities as Africa ‘continues to rapidly emerge economically’.
Dutton’s aggressive approach to Australian-Africans is an ‘epic fail’, and likely to ‘squander a very important relationship with Africa’, he said.
Peter Dutton’s remarks about the African community have escalated recently, with Home Affairs minister claiming that Melburnians were frightened of dining out at night because of ‘gang crime’.
Richard Marles slammed Dutton for attacking African communities and told him to ‘butt out’