In September 2015, the country breathed a collective sigh of relief when Malcolm Turnbull wrested the leadership of the Liberal Party from Tony Abbott. The hope was Mr Turnbull would end a run of dumbed down politics based on slogans and fear-mongering.
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The opinion polls reflected this relief, with Mr Turnbull outpolling his Labor rival Bill Shorten as preferred prime minister. It seemed a new era of maturity and evidence driven debate might replace the tribal style chanting that had cast a shadow over Australian politics.
That expectation came to a crashing halt when Immigration Minister Peter Dutton drew the race card from the pack and put asylum seekers in his cross-hairs.
On Sky News on Tuesday night, Mr Dutton argued that increasing Australia's intake of migrants as proposed by Labor and the Greens would involve accepting innumerate and illiterate refugees ‘’who would not be literate in their own language, let alone English". They would take Australian jobs – "no question about that" – and languish on the dole and Medicare, he said.
This was hurtful, blunt-axe politics wherever it was heard. It was especially galling for communities where migrants have contributed to many success stories and will continue to do so.
Here in Shoalhaven we have seen migrants add to the history and development of the city over many years. There were the early German pioneers, the Greeks who came later and established a cafe culture, and the Italians who built Ulladulla’s fishing industry. Many migrants came from backgrounds of disadvantage and conflict.
And in the wider context, there are the successive waves of migrants who built the nation, from the Afghans who opened up the outback to the post war workforce who built the Snowy Mountains Scheme.
Contrary to what Mr Dutton would have us believe, they have made great contributions, in many cases employing others in their businesses.
Ironically, there is something entirely politically illiterate in Mr Dutton resorting to such inflammatory and divisive language. His outburst is more akin to Pauline Hanson’s reasoning than to a government that tried to convince us it had matured and moved on from its shrill Abbott-era politics.
It also smacks of desperation, which only erodes the calm image the Coalition is trying to project as it heads towards the July 2 election.
