, ▁Anna ▁Bl igh , ▁described ▁Andrew s ' ▁criticism ▁of ▁Sud an ese ▁as ▁" dist urb ing ". ▁She ▁said : ▁" It ▁has ▁been ▁a ▁long ▁time ▁since ▁I ▁have ▁heard ▁such ▁a ▁pure ▁form ▁of ▁rac ism ▁out ▁of ▁the ▁mouth ▁of ▁any ▁Australian ▁politician ." ▁ ▁Labor ▁politician ▁Tony ▁Bur ke ▁brand ed ▁Andrew s ' ▁decision ▁as ▁" in comp et ent ". ▁ ▁However , ▁Andrew ' s ▁actions ▁were ▁app la ud ed ▁by ▁the ▁former ▁One ▁Nation ▁politician , ▁Paul ine ▁Hans on . ▁Andrew s ▁was ▁accused ▁of ▁helping ▁to ▁fuel ▁assault s ▁of ▁Sud an ese . ▁During ▁the ▁controvers y ▁one ▁criticism ▁was ▁that ▁Andrew s ▁just ified ▁his ▁decision ▁based ▁on ▁" con c ern s ▁raised ▁by ▁the ▁community ", ▁however ▁no ▁official ▁report ▁or ▁in quest ▁has ▁been ▁tender ed , ▁leading ▁to ▁the ▁conclusion ▁that ▁any ▁' con c ern s ' ▁were ▁both ▁uno fficial , ▁und ocument ed ▁and ▁most ▁probably ▁belonging ▁to ▁a ▁ra cially ▁int ol er ant ▁minor ity . ▁The ▁Howard ▁government ▁had ▁before ▁used ▁the ▁race ▁card ▁in ▁an ▁election ▁year ▁to ▁dist ract ▁the ▁vot ers ▁from ▁its ▁other ▁fail ures . ▁This ▁was ▁most ▁significant ▁in ▁the ▁ 2 0 0 1 ▁election ▁with ▁the ▁inf am ous ▁T ampa ▁affair , ▁in ▁which ▁the ▁government ▁was ▁badly ▁trailing ▁in ▁the ▁pol ls ▁before ▁vil ifying ▁middle - e astern ▁" bo at ▁people ". ▁The ▁strategy ▁worked