Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has called for people fleeing Gaza to have their visas blocked from coming to Australia.
As the Israel-Hamas conflict continues, Peter Dutton has urged the Government to implement stricter immigration measures as a matter of “national security” on people leaving conflict zones.
The Government has rejected Dutton’s calls, and released data showing it has rejected the majority of recent visa applications from the Palestinian territories.
Gaza visas
Since October, more than 10,000 people from Gaza and the West Bank, which the Australian Government calls the occupied Palestinian territories, have applied to come to Australia.
A spokesperson for the Home Affairs Department confirmed it’s rejected 7,111 of those visa applications.
It has approved 2,922 visas from Palestinian territories.
The Home Affairs Department confirmed to TDA that nearly 90% of the 3,000 approved visas were visitor visas.
These types of visas allow people to stay in Australia for between three and 12 months.
354 Palestinians were granted other types of visas including 95 family, 74 skilled migration, and 51 student visas.
Since October, more than 8,700 migration and temporary visas were granted to people declaring Israeli citizenship.
Dutton
Dutton told Sky News on Wednesday that he was concerned about the background checks for people arriving in Australia from Gaza.
He noted Hamas, which controls Gaza, is listed as a terrorist organisation by Australia.
“I don’t think people should be coming in from that war zone at all at the moment. It’s not prudent to do so, and I think it puts our national security at risk,“ Dutton said.
Today, the Opposition Leader repeated his calls for a temporary immigration pause. “The Government has brought people in from a war zone. In some cases, they haven’t even done face-to-face interviews and that is without precedent,” Dutton told Nine.
He said he believes “the vast majority… are just innocent people fleeing a war zone,” but that “our country’s best interest is served when we know who is coming here”.
Dutton called for “proper” processes to ensure no “sympathisers of a listed terrorist organisation” arrive in Australia.
Motion
Dutton has introduced a motion in the House of Representatives to recognise “the Albanese Government has granted almost 3,000 visas to individuals from the Gaza war zone,” some of whom he claimed have “expressed sympathy for Hamas”.
Independent MP Zali Steggall spoke against Dutton’s motion. She called on Dutton to “stop being racist,” before withdrawing her remark.
Government response
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese accused Dutton of sowing “fear and division” over Palestinian visas.
“That is what he has done his entire political career and he continues to do,” Albanese said.
He later hit back at Dutton’s questions over whether Palestinian visa holders had gone through a proper screening process.
“We don’t discuss the details of the methods are agencies used to determine if someone is a national security risk”.
Senior Government Minister Jason Clare has also criticised the comments from Dutton, who was Home Affairs Minister under the previous Coalition Government.
“The same security checks that were in place when he was a Minister are in place now,” Clare said.
Clare represents the south-western Sydney electorate of Blaxland. More than half of Blaxland residents were born overseas, according to census data.
“I’d invite Peter Dutton to come to my electorate and meet the people who’ve come here from Gaza,” he also said.
