Usman Khawaja loses it at Peter Dutton over Muslim comment

Australian cricket star Usman Khawaja has accused Peter Dutton of 'fuelling Islamophobia' after he warned a government with more Muslim candidates would be a 'disaster'.

The opposition leader made the comment on Thursday morning when he answered questions at a press conference in Queanbeyan, in southeastern NSW .

Mr Dutton suggested that if a series of new candidates from other factions made their way into a minority Labor government, it would be disastrous for Australians.

'I think what it does demonstrate is that the Prime Minister if he's in a minority government in the next term of parliament, it will include the Greens, it will include the green Teals, it will include Muslim candidates from Western Sydney . It will be a disaster,' he said.

'If you think the Albanese government is bad now, wait for it to be a minority government with the Greens, the green Teals and Muslim independents.

'That is not the formula for bringing grocery prices down and for getting our economy back on track,' he said.

' Inflation will continue to rage under that sort of a government, and interest rates will go higher.'

Khawaja lashed Mr Dutton's comments as he accused the politician of 'fuelling Islamophobia from the very top'.

'As a Muslim who grew up in Western Sydney, I find this comment from someone who is running for PM an absolute disgrace,' he wrote on X on Thursday.

'Bigotry at its finest. Fuelling Islamophobia from the very top.'

Lawyer Bede Kelleher agreed Mr Dutton's comments were 'despicable bigotry'.

'I don't expect much from any of our politicians, but this is appalling,' he said.

Writer and left-wing activist Jeff Sparrow said the statement was 'naked racism'.

'Imagine the response if he'd warned against "Jewish candidates from northern Sydney". It would have been career-ending and rightfully so,' he wrote.

Mr Dutton told The Today Show on Friday morning that he didn't have a problem with a Party that has a religious view.

'My problem is not with somebody of Islamic faith – quite the opposite – not with somebody of Jewish faith,' he said.

'But when you say that your task is to, as a first order of priority, to support a Palestinian cause or a cause outside of Australia, that is a very different scenario.'

Mr Dutton's comments came during a chaotic day for Labor, with first-term Western Australian senator Fatima Payman announcing she would quit the party.

During her tearful exit speech, Ms Payman said she had been 'exiled' by her colleagues after she crossed the floor and sided with the Greens on a motion about recognising the state of Palestine.

'With a heavy heart, but a clear conscience, I have announced my resignation from the Australian Labor Party,' she said.

'Effective immediately, I will sit on the crossbench to represent Western Australians.'

Ms Payman took aim at Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, saying his claim yesterday that she had been planning to strike out on her own for a month, was untrue.

She also insisted that she would not be taking the helm of a new 'Teal Muslim' movement, as has been widely rumoured.

Initially, Ms Payman received no more than a slap on the wrist, but her decision to appear on an unsanctioned ABC interview where she proudly said she'd cross the floor again if she had her time over prompted the PM to intervene again.

She was suspended indefinitely from the party with senior Labor ministers promising she will be welcomed back into the fold when she begins acting like a team player.

Labor will now have to negotiate with Ms Payman as part of the crossbench when passing legislation in the senate, if they do not have the support of the Coalition.

To reach a majority in the Senate without the Coalition, Labor will need the support of all 11 Greens, plus three members of the eight-strong crossbench.