Late yesterday, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton lurched into the news cycle like a drunken sailor when he was caught on microphone making a quip about rising sea levels facing island nations in the Pacific.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott had just returned from climate change talks in Port Moresby, and the two were joking about a meeting that had run late, with Dutton noting that it was running on “Cape York time.”
Abbott responded “we had a bit of that up in Port Moresby”, to which Dutton said “time doesn’t mean anything when you’re about to have water lapping at your door.”
Both men LOL’d before Social Services minister Scott Morrison pointed out the presence of a live boom mic directly above their heads. In case you somehow missed it, you can relive the moment in all its painful glory below:
Overnight, Anote Tong, the President of the small Central Pacific nation of Kiribati, hit back at Dutton, saying that he was saddened by the remarks, and that the Immigration Minister has “got to search his soul.” Tong said:
“What kind of a person is he? As long as there is this kind of attitude, this kind of arrogance in any position of leadership, we will continue to have a lot of tension.”
Tong, who has long been an advocate for action on climate change, added that it’s “extremely disappointing” that a government official would see fit to joke around on the subject.
“I hope this just doesn’t reflect the deeper feelings [about] this issue because it’s a serious issue for many people on this planet,” Tong said, adding that Kiribati will be seriously affected if sea levels continue to rise.
Marshall Islands Foreign Minister Tony de Brun also had a crack:
Dismayed Aust ministers joking about sea level rise in Pacific. Seems insensitivity knows no bounds in the big polluting island down sth.TdB
— Tony de Brum (@MinisterTdB) September 11, 2015
Opposition leader Bill Shorten called Dutton’s remarks “a bad joke by a minister who is a bad joke” and added that, in the words of Barack Obama, “any leader who doesn’t take climate change seriously is not fit to lead.”
via ABC News
Photo: Stefan Postles / Andalou Agency via Getty Images
