The New Site Encouraging Australians to Send a Potato to Peter Dutton Has Run Out of Spuds

What a week it’s been in politics. On Friday conservative Liberal MP Peter Dutton was defeated for the second time in his attempt to take control of the party’s leadership. Scott Morrison is now Australia’s Prime Minister.

In response, a group calling itself the Parliament of Potato (PoP) began offering a service that let Australians send unwashed potatoes to Dutton’s office in his electorate of Dickson in the north-western suburbs of Brisbane (in 2016 Labor’s Tim Watts called Dutton a “potato head” during question time).

But now the site has run out of spuds after raising over $5,000 from 700 donations.

A lone potato cost $1, and $10 sent “A Dozen Dirty Duttons” to the prime-ministerial hopeful’s office. A whole crate of potatoes cost $39.

While $1 might seem steep for a potato, proceeds are being donated to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, based in Melbourne, which provides aid, justice and empowerment programs to people seeking asylum in Australia.

In his former role as Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Dutton was known for his hardline stance on immigration. He has been criticised for his unwillingness to acknowledge the terrible conditions asylum seekers in offshore detention centres on Nauru and Manus Island are living in.

This week, in a show of mock sympathy, members of the public have been “putting out potatoes” for Dutton, leaving out bowls and bags of potatoes on their front doorsteps.

The PoP site advises the potatoes delivered to Dutton will be from independent Australian farmers. While the PoP has said if Dutton rejects any potatoes it will "donate rejected spuds to the Food Bank".

If you would like to send Peter Dutton a potato, head to potatodutton.com.