September 3, 2024
Spy chief Mike Burgess has declared that backing Hamas is a barrier to getting an Australian visa, clarifying his remarks from last month that suggested rhetorical support for the terror group was acceptable.
The ASIO director-general said on Tuesday that people had distorted his initial remarks, which sparked a political fight that dominated parliament in August as Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said no Palestinians should be let into the country.
“I’ve watched with interest over the last couple of weeks how people have chosen to distort what I said,” he said in remarks aired as a preview of the ABC’s 7.30.
“I said that, if you support a Palestinian homeland, that may not discount you [from entering Australia] because that by itself is not a problem.
“But I also said if you have a violent extremist ideology, or you provide material or financial support to a terrorist organisation, that will be a problem.”
Online support for Hamas – such as liking a social media post – would be a problem for applicants, Burgess said.
“Is it a one-off comment? If it’s a tweet that actually – or reinforcement or liking of a tweet – that says the 7th of October was acceptable, that’s going to be a problem for that person,” he said.
Burgess said on Insiders three weeks ago that, “If it’s just rhetorical support, and they don’t have an ideology or support for a violent extremism ideology, then that’s not a problem.”
It was unclear whether he was referring to rhetorical support for a Palestinian homeland or Hamas.
Coalition home affairs spokesman James Paterson said the government was to blame for the muddle over recent weeks.
“It remains a mystery why three weeks on no government minister has said what Mike Burgess has made clear: Hamas supporters are a threat to security and should not be welcome here,” Paterson said in a statement.
“The only plausible explanation is they feared the domestic political consequences of putting our national security first.”
Australia-Israel and Jewish Affairs Council executive director Colin Rubenstein said Burgess’ clarification did not resolve “ongoing concerns about the screening process for Gazans permitted to come to Australia”.
“While there is no objection to admitting genuine refugees fleeing Gaza into Australia, this depends on providing proper screening and security checks which must take account of the fact they come from an area long ruled by a listed terrorist group,” he said.
Australia Palestine Advocacy Network President Nasser Mashni said: “It’s alarming that the ASIO head felt it was necessary to issue a clarification in response to Peter Dutton’s baseless fears and politicised statements, reflecting a troubling trend where national security is being distorted for political purposes.”
As well as the war in Gaza, Mashni said Palestinians were fleeing “oppression, occupation and apartheid, and it’s an indictment upon this country that it has chosen to demonise these people, rather than offer them the care and compassion that has been so rightly afforded to other people fleeing conflict zones”.
Last week, this masthead reported the Home Affairs Department had rejected three out of four visa applications by Palestinians, the latest figures showing 13 visas were granted and 39 rejected from August 12 to 19.
Federal Labor is also facing pressure from refugee advocacy groups to move refugees from bridging to permanent visas, after 23-year-old Sri Lankan asylum seeker Mano Yogalingam took his own life last week.
Assistant Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs Julian Hill said on Monday the government had granted 19,000 visas to refugees who had been stuck in limbo for 10 years, and were still working through 1000 more of those cases.
Of people on bridging visas, Hill told ABC’s Q&A about 200 people were in the merit review process at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and about 4500 were still before the courts in the judicial review process.
Hill added about 2000 people who were on bridging visas could now apply for permanent visas, and about 2500 others had been found to not be owed protection. However, some of those people went through the fast-track process of the former government so were still being considered.
“They’re not forgotten but the truth is this is one of the most complex areas of migration law, every case is different and there is no magic wand,” Hill said.
