A senior Australian government minister vowed on Thursday to press on with a plan to bring white South African farmers to Australia, hitting out at criticism from "crazy lefties" who he said were "dead to me". Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton sparked an uproar last week by singling out the farmers’ need to flee "horrific circumstances" in SA for a "civilised country". He is examining whether they deserve "special attention" for acceptance on refugee or humanitarian grounds, which led to SA hauling in Australia’s envoy to Pretoria for a dressing down and a demand that he retract the comments. It also set off claims in Australia that Dutton was a racist and fears that it signalled a return to the "White Australia" policy, referring to laws in place for seven decades from 1901 that prevented nonwhite immigrants settling down under. Dutton, who has drawn criticism in the past for cracking down on asylum seekers from Asia and the Middle East, is unfazed. He insisted he was blind to ski...

Subscribe now to unlock this article.

Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).

There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.

Cancel anytime.

Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.

Speech Bubbles

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.