Dutton Leaves QLD Cyclone Preparations For Sydney Mansion Fundraiser
Image: Peter Dutton MP/Facebook
Opposition leader Peter Dutton has come under fire for leaving cyclone preparations in Queensland on Tuesday night for a fundraiser in a Sydney harbourside mansion.
On Tuesday morning, Dutton gave a press conference at Queensland’s Emergency Management Centre in Brisbane, but Treasurer Jim Chalmers said he left the cyclone briefing early.
It is now understood that Dutton then flew to Sydney for a community event, and a fundraiser at the waterside Vaucluse home of billionaire pub and club boss Justin Hemmes.
When reports of his departure were published in the Australian Financial Review on Wednesday, Chalmers said Dutton’s action were “very disappointing”.
“That’s for Peter Dutton to explain. I went to that briefing on Tuesday at [the emergency management centre in] Kedron and he was leaving as I was arriving,” Chalmers said on Queensland radio station 4BC.
“But I assure all your listeners and I assure you that our focus has been on the disaster. I hope his has been as well, because we all need all shoulders to the wheel. Every level of government, both sides of politics, need to be doing what we can.”
A spokesperson for Dutton’s office confirmed to News Limited that the opposition leader had attended the fundraiser and gone to previous briefings on Cyclone Alfred.
Dutton “owes Queenslanders an explanation”
Dutton’s own electorate of Dickson in north-west Brisbane is expected to be hit by the cyclone in the coming days, although in an interview with 4BC on Wednesday morning, he admitted he was unprepared for its arrival.
“I haven’t taped up the windows, I haven’t been that organised, but it’s something we should consider, actually,” Dutton said.
Queensland Labor senator Murray Watt condemned Dutton’s decision to fly to Sydney in the midst of a public crisis.
“It’s surprising that when Peter Dutton’s own community was filling sandbags, he was filling Liberal Party money bags at a Sydney harbourside mansion,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald on Wednesday. “Mr Dutton owes Queenslanders an explanation.”
Anthony Albanese has brushed off discussions of the upcoming election in favour of focusing on the current emergency.
“At the worst of times, we always see the best of Australian character. I said yesterday that there were no political parties in this process and there are no borders, tropical Cyclone Alfred certainly does not recognise any borders, and nor should the government’s response,” he said.
“This isn’t a time … for party politics. I’m just focused on my job in governing and that’s something I’ve been focused on since the 23 May 2022.”
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