August 20, 2024
BEN FORDHAM: This is the news out today the opposition wants to know why the federal government has cancelled 43 visitor visas granted to Palestinians. They're also asking questions as to why we've been so generous when it comes to accepting people. They say, since the October 7 attack on Israel, Labor has approved nearly 3000 visas for Palestinian refugees. In comparison, as of July 31st, the US has accepted just 17. New Zealand has issued temporary visas to 153. The UK has granted 168 protection visas to Palestinian refugees. The Coalition says Labor must explain why we've accepted more people from Gaza than almost any other country in the developed world. Senator James Paterson is the Shadow Minister for Home Affairs and he's on the line. Senator, good morning to you.
JAMES PATERSON: Good morning Ben.
FORDHAM: Have we accepted more than other parts of the world because we're more generous than other parts of the world?
PATERSON: Ben, it appears the reason why in the developed world almost no country has accepted more in a shorter period of time then Australia is Australia is one of the only countries in the world that's adopted a fast track process of handing out tourist visas to people fleeing a war zone controlled by a terrorist organisation. Some of those other countries that you read out, we could add Canada, which has accepted 254. France, which has accepted 260, or Italy which has accepted 156, have much tougher requirements for interviewing and doing tests on people before they let them into their country. For example, Canada and France both require that you visit a consulate or embassy of that government in the region for a face to face interview and a biometric test before they let you come in. Now, the Australian government, the Albanese government, in their wisdom, has waved those requirements and are not requiring interviews and are not requiring biometric tests. So no wonder they have been able to do so many more, so much more quickly.
FORDHAM: Okay, but they've cancelled 43 visitor visas. So isn't that a sign that they are making some judgement calls on some of these people?
PATERSON: Well, on the contrary that's a sign for concern because these are visas that they granted that they subsequently cancelled. Now, if the Prime Minister and the Minister for Home Affairs, Tony Burke, have been telling us the truth that all the necessary checks took place in the first place, why have they cancelled visas subsequently after that were first issued? It's probably because of what Mike Burgess alluded to when he was interviewed on Insiders recently, where he said some instances of visa applications were not referred to his organisation, and when they became aware of it, they dealt with it. Well, we shouldn't be relying on ASIO to become aware of it subsequently. They should have been referred to them in the first place before these visas were granted.
FORDHAM: Okay, they would say, well, it's proof that the system works. There was an issue with 43 of them and they weren't granted, or they were revoked after being initially granted.
PATERSON: Yeah, I don't share their confidence in that, because if you issued the visa in the first place, then that person is entitled to come to Australia and once they come to Australia, it's very difficult to remove them because they get access to our legal system and in fact, they can draw it out for years and years and years before they can be eventually deported. They can take it all the way to the High Court if they have the right legal teams advising them. So we should never be issuing visas to people in the first place who represent any sort of security risk. We should be taking our time to get this right. They should do what we did when we were in government with both the Syrian intake and the Afghan intake, which is proceed very cautiously, process people in third countries where you can do interviews and biometric tests and take the time to make sure that they pose no risk before bringing them to Australia.
FORDHAM: Okay, I want to play you part of what happened in Parliament yesterday. This was the Prime Minister responding to Peter Dutton.
[CLIP START]
ANTHONY ALBANESE: During their entire time in office. They issued, under the former government, more than 1000 visitor visas to Palestinians from the occupied Palestinian territories.
MILTON DICK: Order, order the leader of the Opposition-
ALBANESE: What is wrong with you? There is something wrong with you.
[CLIP ENDS]
FORDHAM: He is saying to Peter Dutton, there's something wrong with you. So those thousand visitor visas, obviously this is before what happened at the end of last year on October 7. But are you saying that all the checks and balances were done on those 1000 visitor visas back then?
PATERSON: Yes. And there's a couple of other distinctions. That's 1,000 visas over nine years, compared to 3,000 visas under Labor in just six months. I think that says it all. That highlights the rush under Labor and the caution under the previous government. And Ed Husic, a cabinet minister interviewed on Sky News on Sunday, accidentally gave the game away. He said the reason why these people weren't given refugee visas, which is what they really are, is because that would take too long and they wanted something that was much quicker, so they went with tourist visas. Well, we don't think tourist visas is an appropriate visa for someone fleeing a war zone controlled by a terrorist organisation. We think people should have to go through all the usual processes, if in fact they are intending to come here permanently and to never return to Gaza. A tourist visa is something you take if you intend to return to where you come from. And clearly, none of these people are planning going back to Gaza anytime soon.
FORDHAM: Yeah, we know that we have been generous in looking after people who've been through hardship. We took in Iraqis, during and after the Iraq war. You mentioned Syrians who've come in, during and after the war in Syria, Somalians after the war in Somalia, Sudanese during the war in Sudan, Ukrainians and now Palestinians. It's just about how you do it and making sure that you've got the right people, and they are doing the right checks.
PATERSON: That's exactly right Ben, Australia has a very proud history of being one of the countries that settles more refugees than almost anyone else in the world. And we can do that as long as we do the proper checks and proper processes, and as long as we don't cut corners and rush things. But unfortunately, that appears to be what the Albanese government has done, and we're gravely concerned that puts our security and safety at risk.
FORDHAM: Does that mean Australians are at risk?
PATERSON: I fear that’s the case. I mean, that's what happens when you rush these processes and you don't do the proper checks. I mean, we have already seen since the 7th of October, really serious strains on social cohesion, shocking levels of anti-Semitism. I don't think any of those problems get better by bringing in supporters of Hamas to Australia. And unfortunately, while there's many innocent people in Gaza, there are also many people who support Hamas and support what they did on the 7th of October. And the whole point of an immigration screening system is to weed out those people that are not good, and we don't want to come to Australia, and bring those who are genuinely deserving.
FORDHAM: What did you make of the Prime Minister's comment to Peter Dutton yesterday, where he said, there's something wrong with you?
PATERSON: It's a kind of bizarre approach that the Prime Minister is taking. He can't defend himself with the facts, they are embarrassing. And so he's lashing out and resorting to personal attacks on Peter Dutton. I think the Australian people will see through that. I think they know that Peter Dutton puts Australia's national security and community safety first, and they know that the Prime Minister being flippant and loose with the truth here.
FORDHAM: We appreciate you jumping on the line.
PATERSON: Thanks, Ben.
ENDS
