Scullion slams 'racist' newspaper cartoon

Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion has slammed a "racist" cartoon published by The Australian newspaper, describing it as tasteless and appalling.

The cartoon, by Bill Leak, depicts a police officer telling an Aboriginal man to talk to his son about personal responsibility, to which he replies "yeah righto, what's his name then?"

"Although Australian cartoonists have a rich tradition of irreverent satire, there is absolutely no place for depicting racist stereotypes," the minister said on Thursday.