Dutton blew his dog whistle. Let’s not pretend otherwise

Is it possible there is a thread connecting these two decisions, one we should at least be considering in public discussion of Dutton’s approach to leading his party? If Dutton was a different politician this might be unfair speculation. A glance over his career suggests it’s not. There was the time he said people were “scared to go out to restaurants” because of “African gang violence”. There was the time he called refugees illiterate and innumerate, warning at the same time they would be “taking Australian jobs”. There was the time he agreed that Malcolm Fraser had made a mistake resettling Lebanese-Muslim refugees. There was the time he walked out on the parliamentary apology to the Stolen Generations (he has apologised since). I have not even touched on his comments about asylum seekers under his care as a minister.

We do an odd thing when MPs become leader of a major party. We let them start again, as though everything they did before was some youthful indiscretion, rather than a fair indication of the way they practise politics. Dutton benefits from this, as well as a second failure in our public sphere: we are no good at talking about the way racism is exploited in our politics. We tend to dance around it. What do we have to fear from joining the dots? Do we think if we simply ignore the weaponisation of resentment by our politicians it won’t work? That we will unduly amplify their views? Dutton is the leader of the opposition.

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On Saturday, neo-Nazis staged an “anti-immigration” protest on the front steps of the Victorian parliament. This is worrying enough. Add to this a piece of news that barely registered last week: a Reserve Bank prediction, from late last year, that the chance of a recession is one in two, and could perhaps be as high as 80 per cent. These are the times when, typically, resentments and divisions breed and people look for scapegoats.

In 2018, the Victorian Human Rights Commissioner said reports of racist incidents had jumped by 34 per cent in a year. An important influence, she said, was national politics, including Dutton’s gangs comments. It is always tempting for politicians to follow that old American advice: split the country in two and tear off the bigger half. In certain times, and in relation to certain issues, it is crucial they resist that temptation. And if they can’t, we shouldn’t pretend they are better than they are.