[Greens-Media] Media release: Dutton, Turnbull’s dog-whistle campaign in full swing

[Pearse, Hayley (Sen S. Hanson-Young)]

MEDIA RELEASE

Wednesday, 18 May 2016

Dutton, Turnbull’s dog-whistle campaign in full swing

Both Peter Dutton and Malcolm Turnbull have lowered the tone of the election campaign by resorting to xenophobic fear-mongering around people seeking asylum, the Australian Greens have said.

“I fear this campaign will be built on a foundation of xenophobic dog-whistling,” the Greens’ immigration spokesperson, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

“Peter Dutton says refugees will both steal our jobs AND be unemployed. Putting aside the stupidity of that comment, I worry about the motivation behind it.

“Using people who are seeking asylum as a prop to scare voters who are doing it tough is low and should have no place in a modern, tolerant society like ours.

“I would call on Malcolm Turnbull to pull his Immigration Minister into line following these disgraceful comments, but he’s already shown he’s not up to the job himself.

“I, like many Australians, have been deeply disappointed by the Turnbull Prime Ministership. He came in promising a new dialogue that respects the voters’ intellect but all he’s given us is more of the fear-mongering and regressive politics that we saw from Tony Abbott.

“People seeking asylum can be a huge benefit to our country. Australia was built on the backs of generations of hard working people who came here looking for a better life.

“The Greens have a plan for a better way on refugees. We would close Manus Island and Nauru, welcome 50,000 people per year, which includes 10,000 under a new 'Skilled Refugee' programme, and create a safe way for people in our region to seek asylum in Australia."


Media Contact: Noah Schultz-Byard 0427 604 760