Opposition leader Peter Dutton has drawn criticism after saying people leaving war-torn Gaza should not be able to enter Australia.
Dutton said there was uncertainty about the identity or the allegiances of Gazans with Hamas — that carried out — remaining in power.
“I don’t think people should be coming in from that war zone at all at the moment,” Dutton told Sky News on Wednesday. “It’s not prudent to do so and I think it puts our national security at risk.”
Dutton’s comments come after Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) director-general Mike Burgess told ABC’s Insiders program on Sunday that support for Hamas did not automatically disqualify people from getting a visa.
“We take each case on its merits and the context of the information we have before us,” Burgess told Insiders.
He added: “For all immigration, including when you’re balancing humanitarian needs, security checks are critically important. There are processes in place and I can assure your audience that when things get referred to ASIO we deal with them effectively.”
Dutton told Sky News that Burgess’ response was concerning.
“I just think every Australian would be shocked to think that the government’s bringing in people from a war zone and that ASIO is not conducting checks and searches on these people,” he said.
Peter Dutton criticised for ‘abhorrent’ remarks
The federal government confirmed earlier this month that it is to allow Palestinians on temporary visas to stay longer in Australia. It has not yet released further details.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Dutton’s comments sought “to divide” and that the federal government took advice from Burgess and intelligence agencies.
“Not from someone always looking for a fight, always looking for division,” Albanese told ABC News Breakfast on Wednesday.
Education Minister Jason Clare said there are more than 1,000 people from Gaza in Australia and invited Dutton to his western Sydney electorate to meet some of them.
“These are people who’ve had their home blown up, who’ve had their school blown up, who’ve had their hospital blown up, in some cases, have had their kids blown up,” Clare told reporters on Wednesday. “These are people who are trying to rebuild their lives here in Australia. Come and visit him, look them in the eyes, and I think that he’ll learn a bit.”
Meanwhile, Australia Palestine Advocacy Network president Nasser Mashni labelled the comments “another glaring example of the abhorrent and increasingly normalised brand of racist politicking designed to stir up fear and hatred against the Palestinian people”.
“Peter Dutton’s stoking of racist stereotypes, under the guise of national security, is to be condemned in the strongest possible terms by all elected representatives,” Mashni told the Australian Associated Press.
Mashni said Australia had “rightly supported” Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s invasion and was “morally obliged to offer the same levels of support, compassion and care” to Palestinians fleeing Gaza.
His comments echoed those by independent senator David Pocock, who said it was “completely hypocritical” of the Opposition to have supported additional humanitarian visas for people fleeing conflict in Afghanistan and Ukraine but not Gaza”.
But Opposition legal affairs spokeswoman Michaelia Cash rejected Pocock’s criticism.
“We were ensuring at all times that the appropriate visa checks were being undertaken,” Cash, who was attorney-general when and , said.
“You always want to look after those coming from war-torn nations, however you also need to take into account the circumstances of the war-torn nation.”
About 1,200 Israelis were killed and 250 taken hostage when Hamas launched its 7 October attack and almost 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s counteroffensive in Gaza.
The Australian government has called for a ceasefire plan to be adopted as the death toll mounts and the humanitarian situation worsens.
With reporting by the Australian Associated Press.
Source Agencies
