Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has staunchly defended a Labor candidate in Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s seat in the wake of old tweets depicting Dutton as a Nazi.
Ali France is running against Dutton in Dickson, which is , making it the most marginal federal seat in Queensland.
France has come under fire over the old posts, which were published before her candidacy. They included resharing a doctored image of Dutton and then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull in Nazi uniforms.
Albanese refused to criticise France for the posts and flipped the script on the reporters, stating many people have posts they regret.
“I don’t know what your tweets are like more than a decade ago or what have you. But people are going and attacking Ali France as they did during the last campaign,” he said at a press conference in Western Australia last week.
France also suggested the Coalition was planning cuts to essential National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) support to pay for AUKUS submarines.
“What he’s saying here is that disabled people should fund the AUKUS submarines by going without essential supports. And some say he’s not a monster,” she said above a picture of Dutton.
Among the resurfaced posts was one branding Israel an “openly racist apartheid regime”, dating back to December 2016.
Albanese has stood by France, praising the Labor candidate as an “extraordinary Australian”.
“What I know about Ali France as a person today is that she is an outstanding human being, she’s someone who has overcome extraordinary adversity during this time while she’s been a candidate, the loss of her son, and has overcome tragedy,” Albanese said.
“It would be a really good idea if people recognised that Ali France is someone who has shown courage, who has overcome adversity, is putting herself forward … for the third time to look after the local community that she loves, that she won’t leave in a time of crisis, that she will look after.”
Opposition leader Peter Dutton has criticised Anthony Albanese’s support for Labor candidate Ali France. Source: AAP / Russell Freeman
Dutton condemned Albanese’s endorsement of France on The Briefing podcast, suggesting it trashes the prime minister’s credibility if he is willing to accept these kinds of posts.
On France, he said it followed a “pattern of conduct for a long period of time” that made her unfit for office.
France has since issued a statement stating: “I should have chosen my words more carefully in the past.”
“But I have always felt extremely passionately about the Liberals’ systemic dismantling of the NDIS.
“I want to see peace and believe in a two-state solution, with Israelis and Palestinians living side by side in peace and security.”
France first ran in 2019 and tightened the race last election, gaining a 2.94 per cent swing that saw Labor achieve a two-party preferred vote of 48.3 per cent after preferences.
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