Peter Dutton has said Palestinians fleeing Gaza should not be granted entry to Australia, citing national security fears.
The opposition leader said it was "not prudent" to admit people fleeing a war zone, citing concerns they could be supporters of Hamas, a designated terror organisation.
In a Sky News interview on Wednesday morning, Mr Dutton said he was not satisfied there was sufficient screening in place to ensure those fleeing the region were not associated with terrorist activities. Just over 2,000 visas were granted to people declaring Palestinian citizenship between the Hamas terrorist attack of October 7 and the end of 2023, according to the latest available figures from the Department of Home Affairs.Many are children and most have received visitor visas. In early August, new Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the government was working on a solution for that cohort when the visitor visas expired, confirming they would not be sent back to Gaza with a war ongoing.
The Coalition's Home Affairs spokesperson James Paterson said every person coming out of Gaza should be referred to ASIO. " depends on what that looks like," he said. "If they're supportive because they want their homeland ... If it's just rhetorical support and they don't have an ideology or support for violent extremism ideology, then that's not a problem.
"But if you support an organisation that carried out the worst atrocities against the Jewish people since the Holocaust ... I don't think that's the sort of person we want to welcome to our country."Education Minister Jason Clare noted there was currently no way out of Gaza so further arrivals were not currently possible."There are people from Gaza here now, they live in my electorate, I've met them, great people.
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