WA Premier McGowan Unleashes On Dutton: "He's An Extremist"

Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan unleashed a searing sledge at former defence minister Peter Dutton on Monday afternoon.

Mr Dutton is widely tipped to be the front-runner for Liberal Party Leadership after the previous deputy leader Josh Frydenburg lost his Melbourne seat of Kooyong. 

But the Premier told media today he simply wasn’t fit for the job:

“He’s an extremist and I don’t think he fits with modern Australia at all,” Mr McGowan said.

“He doesn’t seem to listen, he’s extremely conservative and I actually don’t think he’s that smart. I’ve seen him present on things [and] I don’t really pick up there’s much there.”

He was also keen to criticise the former defence minister’s handling of Australia’s relationship with China.

“Peter Dutton was out there talking about war and war-footing and conflict … that’s absolutely crazy,’ he said.

“We’re a country of 25 million people, China has 1.4 billion people, with nuclear weapons. Why would a mainstream political party be talking about that? Let’s just have a sensible, strong relationship with China and continue our strong alliance with the US and Britain.”

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