Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has denied Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ comments calling him ‘divisive’ and ‘dangerous’, saying it was a distraction from the party’s economic failures Labor.
During John Curtin’s annual speech on Monday night, Chalmers accused Dutton of starting culture wars and called him the most controversial leader in Australia’s modern history.
Chalmers doubled down on his comments Tuesday morning by warning voters that the opposition leader was deliberately “stalking” and “preying” on division instead of seeking to heal the nation.
“[Peter Dutton] is the most controversial political leader I have seen in my life. And it’s a deliberate choice on his part, it’s not an accident,” he said on ABC’s Radio National on Tuesday.
“It divides deliberately, almost pathologically. And this kind of division within our leaders, in our society, is worse than disappointing: it is dangerous.”
Chalmers’ remarks follow Dutton repeatedly calling for Gaza visas not to be issued until security vetting processes could be guaranteed.
Dutton said there was nothing to support Chalmers’ claim.
“There’s nothing he can say. Other than the fact that he wants to talk about everything except his economic failure. If Australians were doing so well and the economy was working as well as Jim Chalmers claims, “Why is he devoting himself to the speech I addressed?” Dutton told reporters Tuesday.
“It seems that when you look at the Labor Party at the moment you have Tony Burke saying look at me… now you have Jim Chalmers saying look at me.”
The Liberal leader said there were internal divisions within the Labor Party, although Prime Minister Anthony Albanese admitted Dutton was “divisive” and always looked for the negative when speaking to journalists on Tuesday.
Chalmers argued that Dutton’s rhetoric was “dangerous” and made him unfit to lead the country.
“In my opinion, this should be disqualifying when it comes to leading a large country like ours.”
