Scott Morrison Has Been Hit With Explosive Racism Allegations Ahead Of The Election

A former member of the Liberal Party has gone public with explosive claims that Prime Minister Scott Morrison was directly involved in “racial vilification” against him, which Morrison vehemently denies.

In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Herald and The Sunday Age, Michael Towke asserted that Morrison allegedly told members of the Liberal Party not to vote for him because he was Lebanese, and because of rumours he was a Muslim. Towke’s claims are backed by a statutory declaration he signed back in 2016 — three years before Morrison became prime minister.

“I stand by the declarations I asserted in my statutory declaration,” Towke told the publications, referring to the 2016 statutory declarations made about the events of 2007.

“Amongst many unedifying tactics used to unseat me from my preselection victory for Morrison, racial vilification was front and centre and he was directly involved.

“Racism is divisive, creating hate and hurt, and should have no place in Australian society.”

A second statutory declaration, made by Scott Chapman, a delegate in the preselection, alleged that Morrison used Towke’s ethnic background as a reason not to vote for him.

“Scott Morrison told me that, if Michael Towke were to be preselected, there would be a ‘swing against the Liberal Party in Cook’ because of Mr Towke’s Lebanese background,” said Chapman in the statutory declaration first reported by The Saturday Paper.

“Also during that meeting, Scott Morrison informed me that there was a strong rumour about that ‘Michael Towke is actually a Moslem’ [sic].”

Chapman refused to comment on his statutory declaration when approached by the SMH when Towke shared his story.

Morrison has been quick to refute the claims of racism, calling them “deeply offensive” while campaigning in Tasmania over the weekend.

“These are quite malicious and bitter slurs, which are deeply offensive, and I reject them absolutely,” said Morrison. “I could not reject this more fundamentally.”

However, this is not the first time Scott Morrison has been accused of being racially insensitive.

Some examples include his assertion that January 26 “wasn’t a particularly flash day” for colonisers either, the Indian travel ban, or the infamous I Stopped These refugee trophy that sits on his desk as a constant reminder of the human rights-violating asylum seeker policies Morrison has allowed to thrive under his leadership.

Since the allegations have come to light, a number of high-ranking members of the Coalition — including Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg — have jumped to Morrison’s defence.

“There is not a racist bone in Scott Morrison,” Frydenberg said while campaigning in Melbourne. “The prime minister has categorically denied those allegations.”

“And what’s more Jamal Rifi, who is an Australian Lebanese Muslim leader. He has made very clear: that there is not a racist bone in Scott Morrison. That is from him. Those are his words,” he added, referring to Sydney GP Dr Jamal Rifi who is a prominent and respected member of the Australian Lebanese community.

Rifi has since repeated his belief that there is “no racist bone in” Scott Morrison in an interview with SBS on Sunday.

In an interview with Channel 7 on Monday, Joyce labelled the allegations — which have been backed by two statutory declarations — a “political hit”.

“The Lebanese community have come out and backed the Prime Minister,” said Joyce, who recently called Scott Morrison a “liar”.

“They see this as it is. When you get these accusations right on the eve of an election, they can wrap them up in political hits but it’s not a true reflection of what is the case.

“If this is the honest view, then they could have litigated this years ago.”

Joyce went so far as to assert that Towke is weaponising racism.

“If you’re going to call someone a racist and they’re not, you’re using racism as a weapon,” he said

The allegations come after Liberal Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells publicly alleged Morrison had made racist comments during the pre-selection for the seat of Cook in 2007 during an explosive address to the Senate last Tuesday night.