Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Oz politician says: Don’t open door to anyone who has an Irish accent
AN Australian politician has apologised after warning homeowners not to open their door to anyone with an Irish accent.
Consumer Affairs Minister Marlene Kairouz said sorry after making the comments in Melbourne on Sunday at an awareness campaign about dodgy tradesmen.
The news report showed Ms Kairouz saying: “If anybody knocks on your door that has an Irish accent, automatically ask them to leave.”
Her comments were branded “blatantly racist” by the Irish community in Australia and she faced a storm of criticism on the Irish Around Sydney group on Facebook that has more than 40,000 members.
One user said: “How can this get approved to air on TV… pure racism against the Irish. It’s a disgrace.” Another added: “This is insane. So racist.”
Ms Kairouz tweeted an apology yesterday, saying: “I made a comment at a scam awareness campaign launch that caused offence to people with Irish heritage.
“Recent scammers have been backpackers from the UK and Ireland and I was giving this info to the public.
“I admit I delivered this message poorly. I sincerely apologise for causing offence and my poor choice of words.”
The 9 News report featured an interview with 79-year-old Thelma who was scammed out of £2,600 by men who said they would fix her broken roof tiles.
The con artists started work and then demanded cash even though the job was not complete.
Despite her concerns, the OAP paid them after one of the scammers told her a sob story about his family.
A reporter said: “Thelma says the men who ripped her off had Irish accents which is a common feature of a lot of these scams.”
The piece ended with Ms Kairouz issuing the blunt warning to households not to open doors to anyone with an Irish accent.
She said: “They know exactly where to go, who to target. As soon as they get the cash in their hand, they’re gone.”
AUSTRALIAN MINISTER