His claim that his opponent blamed her disability for not moving to electorate is condemned by advocates and Labor
Fri 12 Apr 2019 03.26 BST
Last modified on Fri 12 Apr 2019 03.27 BST
A peak disability group has condemned the home affairs minister, Peter Dutton, after he accused his election challenger, Ali France, of “using her disability as an excuse” for not having moved to the marginal seat of Dickson.
The co-chief executive of People With Disability Australia, Matthew Bowden, said the statements were “extraordinary” and “out of touch with reality”.
The Australian reported Dutton’s comments about his Labor opponent, who had a leg amputated after being hit by a car in 2011, on Friday morning. The newspaper had first approached France and asked why she had not yet moved to the south Queensland seat, which Dutton holds by a thin margin of about 2%.
France said she had “searched high and low” but had been unable to find a wheelchair-accessible home, and that if elected she would move to the electorate and renovate.
Dutton responded by saying there were “plenty of people living with a disability in Dickson”.
“A lot of people have raised this with me. I think they are quite angry that Ms France is using her disability as an excuse for not moving into our electorate,” Dutton told the Australian.
“If you are serious about representing an area, you live in that area and using her disability as an excuse for not living in our area is really making residents angry.”
Disability support services and advocates say accessible housing is a significant issue in Australia, and that the government had not acted on repeated pleas to increase the amount of affordable housing stock through measures including amendments to building codes.
“We’re highly concerned about the comments made by Peter Dutton,” Bowden said. “They demonstrate an extraordinary lack of understanding about the routine discrimination faced by people with disabilities in securing housing that is accessible and appropriate.
“There’s a widespread lack of housing in our cities, towns, right across the country. This is a national problem that creates significant barriers for people with disabilities.
The deputy opposition leader, Tanya Plibersek, labelled Dutton “pea-hearted” over the comments.
“She actually lost her leg protecting her kids in a car park accident, and he’s using this against her,” Plibersek told ABC Melbourne.
“I mean, what kind of person does this?”
