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Opposition leader Peter Dutton has deflected Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ characterisation of him as “divisive” and “dangerous”, stating it was a distraction from Labor’s economic failures.
During the annual John Curtin Oration on Monday night, Chalmers accused Dutton of starting culture wars and labelled him the most divisive leader in Australia’s modern history.
Chalmers doubled down on the remarks on Tuesday morning as he warned voters that the Opposition leader was deliberately “picking” and “preying” on division instead of aiming to heal the nation.
“[Peter Dutton] is the most divisive political leader that I’ve seen in my lifetime. And this is a deliberate choice by him, it’s not some accident,” he said on ABC’s Radio National program on Tuesday.
“He divides deliberately, almost pathologically. And that sort of division in our leadership, in our society, is worse than disappointing — it’s dangerous.”
Chalmers’ remarks follow , with Dutton repeatedly calling for visas from Gaza not to be issued until security vetting processes could be guaranteed.
Dutton said there was nothing to back up Chalmers’ claim.
“There’s nothing he can point to. Apart from the fact that he wants to talk about anything but his failure in the economy. If Australians were doing so well and the economy was running as great as Jim Chalmers claims it is, why is he dedicating the speech to me?” Dutton told reporters on Tuesday.
“It seems, when you have a look at the Labor Party at the moment, you’ve got Tony Burke saying look at me … now you’ve got Jim Chalmers saying look at me.”
The Liberal leader said there was internal division within the Labor Party despite Prime Minister Anthony Albanese agreeing that Dutton was “divisive” and always looking for the negative when speaking to reporters on Tuesday.
Chalmers argued that Dutton’s rhetoric was “dangerous” and made him unfit to lead the country.
“In my view, it should be disqualifying when it comes to leading a great country like ours.”