August 20, 2024
JACQUI FELGATE: There is new data out, which was conducted by the opposition, detailing that Australia has accepted more Palestinians from Gaza than any other country. Canada, New Zealand, the UK, the United States. The opposition's view has caused a stir in federal parliament, particularly over the last few days. So I'm joined on the line now by Senator James Paterson, the Shadow Home Affairs Minister, to walk us through how this would work. Senator, as always, thank you for your time on the program.
JAMES PATERSON: Great to be with you.
FELGATE: So how do we compare to other countries when it comes to granting a visa?
PATERSON: Well, we just were astonished when we found these results. So Australia has granted about 3,000 visas to people leaving the Palestinian territories since the 7th of October. That compares to Canada who's granted 254, the United States who granted 17, New Zealand who granted 153, the United Kingdom who granted 168, France who granted 260. I could keep going on and on and on. The point is, we are granting, in some instances, more than ten times the number of visas in the same period of time to our closest and most likeminded security partners and friends. And it appears that the reason we've done so is that we rushed our process, skipped the usual security vetting, and allowed in people on tourist visas to leave Gaza when the other countries have been putting them through rigorous processes to check for security concerns.
FELGATE: So what does the Coalition want? How would your model work?
PATERSON: Well, firstly, what the government should have done in the first place is what we did in the case of Syria and Afghanistan. There were very significant uplifts of humanitarian visas granted, but firstly they weren't given tourist visas, they were given humanitarian visas. Secondly, they were taken to third countries where they could be processed on the ground by Australian government officials. And that means they had face to face interviews, they had biometric tests, before they were granted a visa. And they were only allowed to come to Australia once we are absolutely sure that there was no security risk. In this instance, the government has not done any face to face interviews. There's been no biometric testing. It doesn't appear they've been referring all of the cases to ASIO, and instead they brought them in on tourist visas. The officials in Home Affairs admitted to me that on average, they would processing these visas in 24 hours, but in some instances they were granting them as quickly as one hour. Now it's just not possible to do valid identity or security checks on someone leaving a war zone controlled by a terrorist organisation in such a quick period of time.
FELGATE: So what does the Coalition want then?
PATERSON: Well, we understand from the government that about 1,500 of those 3,000 visa holders are already in Australia, and others will seek to come. Our view is they should be here as tourists, because if you take a tourist visa, that means you intend to return. And the government has already said these people can't be going back. So our view is they should be granted a temporary protection visa. This is the visa that we've used in the past for humanitarian disasters like this, where you are given a safe haven in Australia, while it is not safe to return to your country. But when your country becomes a safe place to return to, you are allowed then to return.
FELGATE: So what would people do, though, if they decided that they prefer life in Australia? Would there be any possibility that those people could stay?
PATERSON: Well, like anyone else, they can apply through the visa system. They can apply for a family reunion visa. They could apply for a skilled visa. They can apply for a student visa. And if they meet the criteria of those visas, then of course, with appropriate security checks, they should be allowed to stay. But the problem here is that we've got millions of deserving people all around the world waiting in refugee camps who would normally come to Australia through the refugee program. They may be denied a position in that refugee program because people who've been granted tourist visas have decided that they wanted to stay. And that's a real problem because a tourist visa, the conditions are that you intend to return to where you came from. And if you're not returning, then I think you're breaching that visa condition.
FELGATE: So, your boss, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, has faced criticism for his view on calling for an end to the Gaza refugee arrivals. In fact, Zali Steggall going so far as to label him a racist. What's your reaction to that?
PATERSON: I think that's just a distraction. People like that don't have an argument, and so they resort to name calling and labelling. I think Australians know, whatever they think of Peter Dutton, he always put the national security of our country first. He'll always put community safety first. He'll always put law and order first. And frankly, I think that's what Australia deserves. We can't allow insults like that to distract us from our job, which is to protect Australians from security threats.
FELGATE: Do you think the Palestinians, if they pass the security vetting process, have a right to be here as genuine refugees in Australia at the moment?
PATERSON: I've got no doubt there are many genuine, innocent people who want to leave Gaza who would like to come to Australia, who could make a good contribution to our country. But there are, unfortunately, we also know there are people who support Hamas in Gaza. There has been extensive opinion polls conducted in Gaza that show that up to 70% of Gaza residents support Hamas, a listed terrorist organisation, and support their attacks on Israel on the 7th of October, which killed 1,200 people. If you've got views like that, then I don't think you should come to Australia.
FELGATE: Okay. Senator James Paterson, the Shadow Minister for Home affairs. Always appreciate your time.
PATERSON: Thank you for having me.
ENDS
