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August 13, 2024
Shadow home affairs minister James Paterson and Liberal MP Julian Leeser have unequivocally called on the Australian government to strengthen its security process as as it prepares to grant visas to Palestinians from Gaza as many of them could be Hamas supporters.
The pile-on reached fever pitch after ASIO boss Mike Burgess said Palestinians who expressed "rhetorical support" for the terror organisation would not be immediately blocked.
Senator Paterson, flanked by Mr Leeser - a prominent Jewish Liberal MP - said the government needed to urgently clarify its visa processes to insure they weren't granted to individuals who harboured terrorist sympathies.
In a press conference from Parliament House on Tuesday afternoon, the shadow home affairs minister said the government needed to "immediately" ensure Australians were safe from terrorism.
Mr Paterson said "every single application" had to go through ASIO, and that it was "remarkable" it had not been the case before he urged Mr Burke's department to not approve the applications of Hamas supporters.
"Secondly, the Department (of Home Affairs) needs to be directed to not approve the visa of any person who can be identified to be a supporter of a terrorist organisation."
Senator Paterson said anyone who thought violence was an "appropriate means" to achieve their political objectives were supporters of a terrorist organisation which were listed in Australia "for good reason".
Mr Leeser said the security situation in Australia had declined while the National Terror Threat had increased from 'possible' to 'probable' last week.
"It was disturbing at the weekend to hear the director general of security state the government position which was that mere rhetorical support for a terrorist organisation was not enough to have a visa cancelled," Mr Leeser said.
"Today, myself, and 70 colleagues, have written to the Minister of Home Affairs Tony Burke and asked him to do two things."
Mr Leeser's letter underlined the need to bolster Australia's security and home affairs policies as the Labor government's past immigration mishaps, along with its efforts to grant visas to Palestinians, signalled a "relaxed approach" to the safety of Australian citizens.
Mr Leeser said the department needed to ensure supporters of Hamas were not permitted into Australia and to consider the cancellation of any existing visas who are terrorism supporters in the country.
"We call on Tony Burke to take action and to demonstrate to the country that he's serious about his job," he said at the press conference.
Senator Paterson said Mr Burgess was "very careful about what he does", but it was not for him to "set immigration policy" in Australia.
The shadow home affairs minister said the ASIO boss's interview on the weekend clearly described the "status quo" under the Albanese government, which had a double-pronged approach to granting Palestinians visas.
"One, there is no problem for having rhetorical supporters of terrorist organisations come to this country, as he has not been asked to look for that. And two, that they will only refer some applications for visas from the Palestinian territories for ASIO, for security assessment," Mr Paterson said.
"I cannot understand why that would be the case. Let's remember this is a war zone governed by a terrorist organisation. There are opinion polls in Gaza which show that support for him from Hamas is anywhere between 40 per cent and 70 per cent."
In a poll conducted by Reuters last month, two-thirds of Palestinians backed the Hamas terror attack against Israelis on October 7, which led to more than 1110 deaths and hundreds of hostages taken into Gaza.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke revealed last week the federal government was looking at options to allow Palestinians to extend their stay in Australia.
Visitor visas were granted following the war, but are due to expire.
Mr Burke confirmed to Sky News Australia it was assessing the next steps for Palestinians, but could not comment as no decision had yet been made.
"Certainly no country in the world would send people back to Gaza at the moment, no country in the world would do that; so we have to work through what happens as the visas that people are currently on expire," he said.
