After days of criticism and controversy, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton is on the defence.
"I'm not going to step back from this. The vast majority of Lebanese Australians are law-abiding, hard-working, good, decent people who are besmirched by a small element within their community who are doing the wrong thing. And I made that clear, and the fact that Mr Shorten would seek to misrepresent it, I think shows that he has been tricky. But he's been caught out."
Lebanese Australian Community members have expressed outraged at Mr Dutton for suggesting it was a mistake to resettle some Lebanese-Muslims during the 1970s.
Speaking in parliament earlier this week, Mr Dutton said the majority of Australia's foreign fighters have been of Lebanese background.
He says these comments have since been twisted by the opposition leader.
"He's upset people within the community and he's deliberatly done that and his conduct I think really has really been quite sneaky and tricky."
Mr Dutton's Coalition colleagues spoke out in support of the Immigration Minister during Question Time today (Thu).
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull accused Mr Shorten of inflaming tensions.
"He deliberately and recklessly misrepresented the remarks of the minister for immigration. And he did so in order to inflame unrest, animosity and racial hatred."
Defence Minister Christopher Pyne also lashed out at the opposition leader for causing tension with Australia's multicultural community.
"This week he grotesquely misrepresented the Minister for Immigration, inflaming ethnic tensions in this country, with a total disregard for our multicultural history and the way we live in harmony."
Labor Senator Pat Dodson has blamed Mr Dutton for the death threats Labor MP Anne Aly says she has received in the aftermath of the Minister's remarks.
"The Honourable Anne Aly, in the other place (the Senate), was receiving death threats because of the stupidity of language used by one of our ministers to excite some lunatic in this society to threaten violence and death to her and her family. This is what words do."
Mr Dutton took the opportunity to condemn any death threats Anne Aly has received.
