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It’s a sight few would have had on their bingo card for the second full day of the election campaign: Peter Dutton removing his shoes to enter a mosque. Yet there the opposition leader was on Sunday at the Al Madinah Masjid in Leppington in western Sydney.

And not just visiting but offering $25,000 for closed-circuit cameras to help keep the mosque’s Muslim worshippers safe.

After all, Dutton has faced regular condemnation from Islamic leaders for his comments on Muslim immigration and his unwavering support for Israel during the war in Gaza. Cricketer Usman Khawaja branded Dutton “an absolute disgrace” last July for saying a minority Labor government would be a disaster because “it’ll include Muslim candidates from western Sydney”.

Dutton has also argued against accepting Palestinian refugees from Gaza on the grounds they pose a national security risk, and in 2016, caused a stir by telling parliament the Fraser government had made a mistake by allowing so many Lebanese Muslims to migrate to Australia. Dutton has said he has apologised for the comments, but community leaders insist they have no memory of him doing........

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