Muslim leaders from a mosque toured by Peter Dutton have distanced themself from him as debate about his migration policy heats up.
The opposition leader pledged $25,000 for CCTV and security for the Al Madinah Mosque in Leppington on Sunday but leaders later wrote to Mr Dutton saying his visit shouldn't be seen as "an endorsement of any sort" and asked for an apology.
The letter, reported by the Daily Telegraph and seen by AAP, referred to previous remarks made by Mr Dutton about Lebanese-Australians and a lack of condemnation of Islamophobic incidents in contrast to his strong rhetoric on anti-Semitism.
His visit was an opportunity for them to share their views about the challenges Australian Muslims faced so he could come up with appropriate policies, the leaders said as they called for a public apology for Mr Dutton's comments about some Lebanese-Muslim migration being a mistake.
Asked about the letter and whether he would publicly apologise, he didn't respond directly but said all communities and places of worship deserved safety.
"The point that I've made consistently through my career is that people should be able to live in our country, in our society, particularly in the 21st century, peacefully and with freedom," he told reporters in the Hunter on Monday.
"I don't tolerate attacks on mosques, not on churches, not on temples, not on any place of worship."
He pledged to keep envoys for Islamophobia and anti-Semitism put in place by Labor if they were making a difference.
The Liberals' rhetoric on the war in Gaza, including a call to block all refugees coming from the strip, has put a large chunk of Muslim, Palestinian and Middle Eastern communities offside.
Mr Dutton's pledge to cut permanent migration by 25 per cent - although he is yet to reveal from which programs - also has some feeling like multicultural communities were being used as a scapegoat for infrastructure and housing shortages.
Labor frontbencher Michelle Rowland, who represents the diverse Sydney electorate of Greenway, accused successive state and federal Liberal governments of ignoring infrastructure needs in the area, while Mr Dutton pointed the finger at population increases.
"Irrespective of where people's country of origin may be, they're experiencing the same infrastructure deficit as their neighbours," she told AAP.
"It just demonstrates the way they've been let down to date."
