Eric Abetz, the former cabinet minister, has used the racist epithet “negro” in an interview defending his opposition to marriage equality.
The Liberal Tasmanian senator, who left the government after Malcolm Turnbull’s reshuffle, told 2UE radio it was wrong to suggest that refusing to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding was like discriminating against Asian people.
“These sort of analogies are quite offensive and that sort of analogy was completely debunked by Justice Clarence Thomas, the negro American on the supreme court of the United States dealing with this issue who dissented on the issue of marriage as well. And so trying to bring race into it has now been completely dropped.”
The response on Twitter was overwhelmingly critical.
This is a new low. Eric Abetz has defended his homophobic ideas with some racist ones. https://t.co/WMuwLqa3aQ
— GetUp! (@GetUp) October 22, 2015
Eric Abetz must have a time machine. It's the only way to explain his bigoted 1950's era views on social policy.
— Tom Murphy (@tklmau) October 22, 2015
Thomas was one of four supreme court judges to dissent over the court’s ruling effectively legalising same-sex marriage across the US in June.
Abetz, who was leader of the Senate and employment minister in the Abbott government, had earlier in the day accused his party colleague Warren Entsch of “ambushing” the Liberals by bringing forward a suggestion to amend the Marriage Act before the next election to allow same-sex couples to marry.
Abetz told ABC radio: “It seems a bit of a thought bubble and an ambush to boot … the party room has expressed a very strong view.”
Turnbull has stated his support for changing the Marriage Act on several occasions but is hampered by the comprehensive party room rejection of a free vote.
Labor wants Turnbull to bind his MPs to vote for same-sex marriage if a plebiscite is carried.
Abetz remains opposed to a binding vote of any kind, saying the party room had decided to allow a free vote after a plebiscite was passed.
