On Monday, Steggall focused her criticism on Dutton’s policies rather than his personal attitudes.
“For too long, we see policies that are inherently racist and they’re designed to foster fear and hatred of a minority group,” she said.
“And the fear of the consequences of calling [that] out means that the policy itself doesn’t get examined and called out, and that’s just bullying and intimidation.”
Steggall also slammed an opinion piece Dutton wrote for the Sunday News Corp papers, in which he accused Labor, the teals and the Greens of being “Hamas’s useful idiots”.
“This is all designed to foster fear,” Steggall said.
Labor insisted last week that the government and ASIO were following the same processes that occurred under the Coalition, and accused the opposition of undermining national security agencies.
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“I think Peter Dutton is deeply divisive and well, that creates risk to the nation,” Albanese told ABC radio on Monday.
He said if Dutton did not have faith in Australia’s national security agencies to vet Palestinian refugees, “he should say so”.
Coalition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham accused Albanese and Steggall of hypocrisy.
“What we’re seeing from the prime minister and some of the teals like Zali Steggall, who all promised some sort of kinder, gentler politics, is that they are really quite happy to play the man rather than the ball,” he said.
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