Prime Minister Scott Morrison says he has seen no evidence to suggest Peter Dutton misused his ministerial powers in the au pair saga, as the Home Affairs Minister alleges foul play in leaks against him.
Mr Dutton is under fire for using his ministerial powers to intervene in two separate cases, allowing a French au pair and an Italian au pair into the country.
But the Prime Minister believes Mr Dutton acted appropriately, and said the immigration system benefitted from having a minister able to exercise discretion on certain cases.
“There is nothing before me that suggests any misuse of that power,” Mr Morrison said.
“Nothing at all.
“It’s not a file, it’s a human being.”
Mr Dutton claims people are leaking information against him as payback for his role in the Liberal Party’s internal power struggle.
He told Queensland’s Courier Mail newspaper the timing of the au pair allegations is “suspicious”, suggesting it is being fuelled by his political opponents in the wake of his unsuccessful bid for the leadership of the Liberal Party.
Mr Dutton revealed members of Parliament have lobbied him more than 900 times this year to intervene in immigration cases.
But it is the two au pair cases that have led to intense scrutiny of the minister, and a Senate inquiry into his conduct.
In June 2015, Mr Dutton granted a visa to a Italian woman Michela Marchisio, who was detained at Brisbane airport by Border Force officials concerned she would breach her tourist visa by working as a babysitter.
The ABC understands the woman was planning to work for a former police colleague of Mr Dutton, who had contacted his office about the case.
A few months later, the Minister granted a visa to French woman Alexandra Deuwel after lobbying by AFL boss Gillon McLachlan.
It is understood Ms Deuwel was planning to work for Mr McLachlan’s second cousin, Adelaide-based pastoralist Callum MacLachlan.
Mr MacLachlan’s father, Hugh is a Liberal party donor.
Mr Dutton has vehemently denied wrongdoing in both cases.
The ABC approached Ms Deuwel after one of her beachside yoga classes on the French Riviera, but she refused to comment on the issue and threatened to call the police.
“I don’t think that anyone is arguing that he shouldn’t have a discretionary power — of course, that’s what immigration ministers have,” Labor frontbencher Clare O’Neil told the ABC’s Insiders program.
“But the contrast between the sort of attitude that he’s shown, for example, to people who are ill living on Manus Island or Nauru or in detention, to these the au pair situations is pretty toxic.
“What it looks like is if you have got Peter Dutton on speed dial or you’re a Liberal Party donor, then you’re going to get a different immigration outcome than the ordinary person.” ABC News
