It is very inconvenient for Mr Morrison to face allegations on the eve of the election of making racial slurs against a former opponent. This assertion compounds the multiple attacks made on his character from those who have worked closely with him as well as from the president of France.

Those who rush to his defence plead for a quasi-statute of limitations. After all, they say this happened in 2007. I don’t recall the same people rushing to the support of Julia Gillard when she faced home renovation allegations of impropriety, something that occurred in 1994, and something of which she was cleared.

Furthermore, this is not the only issue for Morrison when it comes to alleged smears on Muslims. Respected journalist Lenore Taylor reported in February 2011 that, at a meeting with his shadow cabinet colleagues in December 2010, Morrison urged the shadow cabinet to capitalise on the electorate’s growing concerns about “Muslim immigration”, “Muslims in Australia” and the “inability” of Muslim migrants to integrate. Both Julie Bishop and Philip Ruddock demurred saying that that was not an issue that should be pursued.

In 2011, following the tragedy of asylum seekers who drowned while trying to make it to Australia, Morrison objected to the government paying for their kin to attend their funerals in Sydney, saying it was a waste of taxpayer’s money. After facing a backlash, he backed down saying his comments were ‘insensitive’.