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 over Gazans’ identity or allegiance to Hamas. who carried out — stay in power.
“I don’t think people should be coming from this war zone at the moment,” Dutton told Sky News on Wednesday. “It’s not safe to do so and I think it puts our national security at risk.”
Dutton’s comments come after Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) chief executive Mike Burgess told the ABC’s Insiders program on Sunday that support for Hamas does not automatically prevent people from getting a visa .
“We review each case on its merits and the context of the information we have,” Burgess told Insiders.
He added: “For all immigration, including balancing humanitarian needs, security checks are of crucial importance. Processes are in place and I can assure your audience that when things are submitted to ASIO, we deal with them efficiently. »
Dutton told Sky News that Burgess’ response was concerning.
“I just think all Australians would be shocked to think that the government is bringing people in from a war zone and ASIO is not carrying out stops and searches on these people,” he said.
Peter Dutton criticized for ‘abhorrent’ remarks
The federal government confirmed earlier this month that it allow Palestinians on temporary visas to stay longer in Australia. He has not yet released further details.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Dutton’s comments sought to be “divisive” and that the federal government had followed the advice of Burgess and intelligence agencies.
“Not from someone who’s always looking for a fight, who’s always looking for division,” Albanese told ABC News Breakfast on Wednesday.
Education Minister Jason Clare said there were 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 blew up their homes, their schools, their hospitals, and in some cases, their children,” Clare told reporters Wednesday. “These are people trying to rebuild their lives here in Australia. Come visit him, look them in the eye, and I think he’ll learn a little.”
Meanwhile, Australian Palestine Advocacy Network president Nasser Mashni called the comments “another egregious example of the abhorrent and increasingly normalized form of racist politics designed to stoke fear and hatred against the Palestinian people.” .
“Peter Dutton’s stoking of racist stereotypes, under the guise of national security, must 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 the Russian invasion and was “morally obliged to offer the same levels of support, compassion and care” to Palestinians fleeing Gaza.
His comments echo those of independent senator David Pocock, who said it was “completely hypocritical” of the opposition to have supported additional humanitarian visas for people fleeing conflicts in Afghanistan and in Ukraine, but not in Gaza.
But opposition legal affairs spokeswoman Michaelia Cash rejected Pocock’s criticism.
“We ensured at all times that the appropriate visa checks were carried out,” said Cash, who was attorney general when And said.
“One must always care for those who come from war-torn countries, but one must also take into account the circumstances of the war-torn nation.”
Around 1,200 Israelis were killed and 250 taken hostage when Hamas launched its October 7 attack and nearly 40,000 Palestinians were killed during the Israeli counter-offensive in Gaza.
The Australian government has called for a ceasefire plan as the death toll rises and the humanitarian situation worsens.
With reporting from the Australian Associated Press.
