Fed: Coalition MPs blame media, ALP for children overboard claim
CANBERRA, Feb 18 AAP - Coalition MPs today attacked the media and the opposition forfocusing on the children overboard affair and said the general public did not care.
The government is under pressure after reports last week showed senior bureaucratsknew claims made during the campaign that asylum seekers threw their children overboardwere wrong, but the public was not told.
New Queensland Liberal MP Peter Dutton said people in his electorate backed the governmentand were unhappy with the Labor Party's lack of direction on the issue of asylum seekers.
"They have no idea on this issue which way they are going and this latest episode providesthem simply with a smokescreen," he said.
South Australian Liberal Andrew Southcott said the children overboard issue was a sideshowduring the campaign.
"The children overboard story is only a diversion, if the Labor Party believes thatthis is why they lost the election then they are mistaken," he said.
"This was only ever a sideshow in the whole election campaign."
NSW National Party MP Ian Causley said his constituents were not bothered by the claims.
"In my electorate they see this as a media issue, they really don't care if there werechildren in the water or not, they're saying to me, these people were coming illegally,we don't want them," he said.
Mr Causley also attacked the media for airing claims Governor-General Peter Hollingworthhad covered up complaints of sexual abuse while he was Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane.
"You go out there and attack the highest office in the land, a man who cannot defendhimself," he said.
"It's like a pack of dingoes."
AAP kmh/daw/ph/bwl
KEYWORD: BOAT MPS
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