Australian leader sparks uproar with ‘foreign criminal’ tweet

SYDNEY: Australia’s deputy opposition leader is under fire for a post claiming “foreign criminals” are attacking women, after an immigrant was detained for sexual assault — only for police to admit they got the wrong man.

In a tweet condemned by the government as “grubby”, Sussan Ley of the conservative Liberal Party sought to tap into voter concerns about crime and migration ahead of a weekend by-election in Dunkley, Victoria.

“If you do not want to see Australian women being assaulted by foreign criminals, vote against Labour,” the opposition Liberal Party’s deputy leader posted on Thursday on X. The tweet remained on the social media platform despite calls for her to take it down.

Ley posted the message after Victoria police arrested a 44-year-old man — a former immigration detainee — and charged him with a number of sexual offences.

On Thursday, however, police apologised for arresting the wrong man, saying closed-circuit video images later identified a different, similar-looking man as the alleged culprit.