Australia news LIVE: Politicians react to anti-semitism ‘con-job’; Wong stares down Russia’s peacekeeper warning

Federal politicians are responding to the revelation that a series of antisemitic attacks and the Dural caravan packed with explosives were part of a series of “con jobs” by powerful crime figures, rather than racially motivated hate crimes or terror plots.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke launched a personal attack on Dutton, who spent weeks criticising Labor’s oversight of the caravan probe, claiming the opposition leader had “played directly into the hands” of criminal plotters.

“Time and time again, Mr Dutton, without seeking a briefing, simply asserted a large-scale, planned terrorist attack. That is not what we were dealing with. We were dealing with a criminal con job, and Peter Dutton was one of the people who was conned,” Burke said.

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Meanwhile, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, who himself is Jewish and has faced accusations from the opposition that he failed to combat the rise of antisemitism, took to X to respond to the revelation, describing the “incalculable harm” done by the hoax.

“While it is now clear that there was no threat from the caravan incident at Dural, this despicable event was designed to spread fear in the Jewish community and provoke division,” Dreyfus said.

While the A-G wasn’t as direct as Burke, he noted that it is “so important that we let our agencies do their jobs without political interference”. The existence of the caravan was first revealed by The Daily Telegraph, despite the police’s intention to keep the investigation closed.

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