Peter Dutton gives an opportunity for apology to the Lebanese Muslim community at Lakemba Mosque.

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The Lebanese Muslim Association says it’s willing to offer Opposition leader Peter Dutton the pulpit of Sydney’s Lakemba Mosque to facilitate an apology they say has never been delivered.

In 2016, when Dutton was the immigration minister, he suggested to News Corp columnist Andrew Bolt it was a mistake for the Fraser government to allow Lebanese Muslim refugees to be settled in Australia. He later cited a small number of the cohort who had been charged with terror offences.

In 2023, Dutton told the ABC he had apologised for those remarks, but has never clarified who he apologised to in the community. Last year, the Nine Newspapers reported a number of community leaders cannot recall him having done so.

Dutton’s comments were raised again on Wednesday by Labor campaign spokesperson Jason Clare, following the first leaders’ debate in which Dutton and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese fielded questions on migration and the war in Gaza.

Asked about Clare’s remarks, Dutton labelled them “throwing mud”.

“The lies that the prime minister rolls out and the mud that they throw in relation to me and my colleagues, why are they doing that? Because they don’t have a good three years to talk about,” Dutton told reporters during a visit to Bluescope Steel in Melbourne.

“I have said repeatedly that we are a great beneficiary of the migration program in our country.”

Clare, who is facing an independent challenge from a pro-Gaza candidate in his western Sydney seat of Blaxland, said for his community, the issue is “personal”.

“It’s not a war on the other side of the world … those dead bodies they see on TV have names,” he told the ABC.

“But I’ve got to tell you, they also know where Peter Dutton stands on this, how much he demonises my local community. They remember that he said that it was a mistake to let people from Lebanon ever migrate to Australia, and they will never forget or forgive him for that.”

Peter Dutton says he has apologised for comments he made about the Lebanese Muslim community. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas

When pressed again by SBS News about who in the Lebanese community he apologised to, Dutton did not clarify, saying: “I have already commented on that.”

But Gamal Kheir, secretary of the Lebanese Muslim Association, told SBS News he doesn’t think an apology has been delivered.

“If you were truly repentent of something that you said — you would be apologising every chance you got,” he said.

“Let’s give [Dutton] the benefit of the doubt and say he has [apologised], why does he go to great lengths to say he has — and he can’t bring himself to do it publicly?”

Kheir said the community was willing to offer Dutton the pulpit at Lakemba Mosque to deliver his apology.

“He’ll have a full audience there to apologise to,” he said.

Men stand with their heads bowed outside the mosque.

Gamal Kheir, secretary of the Lebanese Muslim Association, said he doesn’t think Peter Dutton has apologised to the community. Source: AAP / Dean Lewins

Coalition reinstates net migration cut target

Dutton has recommitted the Coalition to pursuing a cut to net overseas migration (NOM) of 100,000 people after walking away from earlier targets in an interview last December.

Initially, he pledged to lower the NOM to 160,000 places from a forecast 260,000 places, before later saying he would examine the settings “when we come to government”.

He said on Wednesday that while the projections vary, whatever the figure is, “when we change government, we can reduce it by 100,000”.

Dutton said he was not worried about a potential business backlash after concern was expressed about the proposal in 2024.

“I’ve got the first and foremost interest in my mind, and that is to get young Australians into housing,” he said.

Earlier this week, Dutton also revealed would each year to attend public universities by around 80,000 and would increase visa application charges.

During the first leaders’ debate on Tuesday, Dutton was repeatedly asked about migration, including a question from a young woman on what he could do to avoid “demonising” migrants.

“What will you do to ensure migration discussions remain respectful and avoid demonising migrants?” she asked.

“I think we are a greater country because of our migrant story and I think we should celebrate it more as a country,” Dutton responded.

“But we have to have a well-managed program.”

Dodging the question around rhetoric, he instead reiterated a Dutton-led government would cut migration by 25 per cent.

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