Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has been grilled by social media users after he claimed that people in Melbourne were too scared to go to restaurants because of African youth crime.
Over the past fortnight, the Victorian state government has come under fire for its response to incidents of street crime involving groups of African teens, which occurred throughout December.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull blamed Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews for the "growing gang violence and lawlessness" in Melbourne.
On Wednesday, Mr Dutton went one better, telling 2GB radio: "People don’t see this in NSW, in Queensland, but the reality is people are scared to go out at restaurants of a night time because they’re followed home by these gangs, home invasions, and cars are stolen."
The comments were slammed by Acting Victoria Premier and Member for Werribee, Tim Pallas, who said Mr Dutton had "gone too far".
Mr Dutton's comments spurred social media users to hit back by posting pictures of food with the hashtag 'Melbourne bites back'.
- With AAP
