MARK DREYFUS: No one is kept safer by politicians inserting themselves in police investigations

The caravan hoax at Dural was designed to spread fear in the Jewish community and provoke division.

It was despicable act. But it was not an act of terrorism. It was, to use the words of AFP Deputy Commissioner Krissy Barrett, a “criminal con job”.

This sorry episode illustrates precisely why it’s critical that police and partner agencies be allowed to do their jobs free from political interference.

No one is kept safer by politicians inserting themselves into police investigations.

There is no doubt that those who helped amplify this hoax for their own political reasons added to the harm.

In Parliament, in statements, and on social media, Peter Dutton relentlessly and shamelessly described the caravan as a mass casualty terror attack against Sydney’s Jewish community.

It was never true.

On January 29, the same day the caravan “plot” was first reported, NSW Deputy Police Commissioner Dave Hudson said one of the open lines of inquiry was whether the caravan was left to be discovered by police.

“Whether someone was looking for some assistance at court, whether someone was going to disclose the existence of those explosives to us prior to it being recovered by a member of the community and towed to a safe place … we are still unsure of those circumstances, and we are pursuing every one of them,” he said.

Deputy Commissioner Hudson didn’t say this in a private briefing. It wasn’t classified. He said it at a press conference for the world to hear.

But Mr Dutton didn’t want to hear. He wilfully ignored this warning from police. He recklessly grasped at a political opportunity instead.

During Question Time on February 4, the Prime Minister noted Mr Dutton was yet to speak to police about the caravan incident. He never did. He just spread the hoax.

This event caused real and understandable distress in the community. But was anyone kept safer by Mr Dutton pretending he knew more than the police about the perpetrators’ motivations and the threat the caravan presented?

Politicising fear for political gain is wrong. It’s reckless. And Mr Dutton has form.

Mr Dutton famously said people in Melbourne are “scared to go out to restaurants of a night time because they’re followed home by (African) gangs”.

That isn’t true, either.

It’s one thing to be loose with the truth, it’s quite another to aid and abet criminals seeking to con the police and courts for personal gain.

I am a member of a Government that works every day to make Australians feel safe and valued in our community.

We seek to unite the country against hate, not exploit the fear it generates.

As Minister for the AFP I have complete confidence in the police and their partner agencies.

Police get up before dawn and go to bed long after the rest of us to protect our community. They deserve better than the politicking we have seen from Mr Dutton and his inexperienced and immature national security spokesperson.

I doubt Mr Dutton has learned much from the caravan hoax, but Australians have learned a lot about Mr Dutton.

Mark Dreyfus is the Attorney-General