The 41-year-old told the story of Gilbert's grandparents who migrated to Australia with little English and money to escape World War II, but went on to establish prosperous businesses. The same is true for Stefanovic's own family. Karl Stefanovic has reportedly split from his wife of 21 years. Credit:Nine "My grandparents were the same," he said. "They spent a year in an immigration camp in Wollongong. He got a job working the coal for BHP, stayed there for 30 years. They built a house with their own hands in [the NSW coastal town of] Bellambi and built a life for their grandchildren to enjoy." In an interview on Sky News on Tuesday, Dutton quashed a Greens idea to increase the refugee intake to 50,000 in a segment that Labor condemned as "deeply offensive" and "xenophobic". "They won't be numerate or literate in their own language, let alone English," Dutton said of humanitarian refugees.



"These people would be taking Australian jobs, there's no question about that.

"For many of them that would be unemployed, they would languish in unemployment queues and on Medicare and the rest of it, so there would be huge cost and there's no sense in sugar-coating that, that's the scenario." Immigration Minister Peter Dutton. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen But Stefanovic challenged Dutton's comments, referring to a report from his own department that noted the positive contributions humanitarian refugees have made to Australia. "In defending his comments yesterday, Dutton appears to have cherry-picked statistics which don't reflect the views of his own department," Stefanovic continued. "Listen to report from 2011: 'The larger picture of humanitarian entrants is one of considerable achievement and contribution. Humanitarian entrants help meet labour shortages. They display strong entrepreneurial qualities compared with other migrant groups, with a higher than average proportion engaging in small and medium business enterprise.'

"It's a cliche, but what Peter Dutton said yesterday was un-Australian. Given his time again, he may have chosen a different way to articulate it, but what's done is done, and I think he needs to apologise. "Not only for those arriving now, but those who have come and now gone, giving their blood, sweat and tears, and handed down their values to the next generations, who are many of our leaders today." Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull backed Dutton's comments on Wednesday, calling him "an outstanding immigration minister". "As Peter was saying earlier today, many of them come to Australia from shattered areas of the world," Turnbull said, describing humanitarian refugees as having "no English skills at all". Dutton has refused to back down from the comments on radio on Thursday.

"I don't think you can argue against the facts and those on the left that have spoken against what I said, I'm not going to stand back from what I said," he said on Ray Hadley's 2GB program. Stefanovic's remarks were praised instantaneously on social media, with Twitter users calling it a "heartfelt, passionate speech" that spoke "for the majority" of Australians.