Pacific leaders incensed at Abbott and Dutton laughing about sea level rise
Pacific leaders respond to Australian minister’s sea level remarks, Guardian, Karl Mathiesen, 12 Sept 15 Tony de Brum, Marshall Islands foreign minister, joins others in expressing offence at comments by Peter Dutton, caught on microphone in Canberra. Pacific leaders have hit out at the insensitivity of an Australian minister’s apparent joke at the expense of low-lying nations struggling against rising sea levels.
Immigration minister, Peter Dutton, was caught on a microphone chatting with Australian prime minister, Tony Abbott, and social services minister, Scott Morrison, while waiting for a community roundtable to begin on Friday in Canberra……..Marshall Islands foreign minister, Tony de Brum, who has been a high profile advocate for stronger action on climate change in the UN climate process, expressed his offence on Twitter:….
Anote Tong, the president of Kiribati, described the joke as vulgar. “What kind of a person is he?” he asked the ABC. “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.”
Gary Juffa, the governer of the Papua New Guinea province of Ono, focused on the Australian prime minister’s reaction:……
The furore broke out just hours after the Australian prime minister rejected a pleafrom Pacific countries to ramp up its carbon reduction targets, which observers called “pathetically inadequate” when they were released in August.
Earlier, Tong told the ABC that Australia’s refusal to consider scaling up its ambitions was disappointing…….. http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/sep/11/pacific-leaders-australian-minister-sea-levels-tony-de-brum-marshall-islands?CMP=share_btn_tw
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of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 
I would suggest that it is a little more than insensitivity on Dutton’s and Abbott’s side.
This appears to be a typical style of behaviour from this Government. They are not fit to govern the local tip; they are certainly not World Leaders, and are making Australia the laughing stock of the world with their idiocy. It saddens me to be Australian and put up with this continuous fiasco from them.
Anote’s question was a good one. What kind of person is he. I would suggest… an arrogant and small minded imbecile!
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THank you, greg – all I can say in reply to you is “Hear Hear”!!!
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