Key Gaza visa question PM refusing to answer

Anthony Albanese has remained tight-lipped on the number of Australian visas granted to Palestinians fleeing Gaza were cancelled, despite sustained pressure from the Opposition.

Coalition spokesman for immigration and citizenship Dan Tehan grilled the Prime Minister during question time on Tuesday, in an attempt to get the total number of cancelled visas, plus the number of cancellations after they came to Australia.

Official figures from the Department of Home Affairs revealed 43 visitor visas were cancelled between October 7, 2023 to August 12, 2024, however 20 were restored on appeal.

In total, 7111 migration and temporary visas were refused, with 2922 visas granted. Out of the approved applications, 2568 were visitor visas, plus 95 family visas, 39 resident return visas, 74 skilled migration visas, and 51 student visas.

Fending off the questions to the boos of the Opposition, Mr Albanese maintained the government had acted in line with guidelines set by ASIO, which carried on from the Coalition government.

“We’ve been guided every single step of the way by our security agencies. Anyone who has been given a visa has passed the same security standard,” he told parliament.

“What our agencies do … is constantly examine issues. That doesn’t stop when someone is granted a visa.

“This is an ongoing process … regardless of where people are coming from, and the circumstances. Their priority is security.”

Mr Albanese also pointed towards the number of visitor visas granted under a Coalition government between the 2013-14 financial year to 2022 for people fleeing civil war, which included 1991 from Afghanistan, 4994 from Iraq and 1505 from Syria.

“All granted visitor visas by the former government, all in circumstances where Islamic State was in control of large parts of Iraq and Syria from 2014 to 2019,” he said.

“Syria’s been a civil war since 2012 and the Taliban have been in control of large parts of Afghanistan for that entire period.”

Discussion of the administration of visas also dominated the Coalition’s party room on Tuesday morning, with leaders telling members to “stay the course”.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said Mr Albanese had committed the “cardinal sin” of misleading the house by misquoting comments from ASIO boss Mike Burgess.

A Coalition spokesman said Mr Dutton told MPs the Opposition had taken a “principled approach,” adding that Mr Albanese was “unable to admit when he is wrong or not across the detail of his own national security policies, and refuses to correct his misinformation on security checks for Gaza visas”.

The Opposition has continued to call for a temporary pause on approving visas for Palestinians fleeing Hamas-controlled Gaza until the government can implement “usual safeguards” such as biometric testing and face-to-face interviews.

Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley urged colleagues to “stay the course,” and asked members: “Who would you rather be at this point of the electoral cycle?”

Ms Ley, who is a member of the Parliament’s friends of Palestine group, also added that while there are “Palestinians in our country already who are deserving of our welcome and our support,” that did not “preclude criticism” of the current processes.

Mr Dutton was applauded by Nationals Leader David Littleproud for his “strength of leadership and character”, despite accusations of racism from “disgraceful” Teals.

Mr Littleproud said Mr Dutton had the “courage to stand up and put a reasonable solution about how Australia should be taking people coming from a war zone,” and this should have been done without “vitriol” from Teals.

In the Greens party room, members said the current state of debate was because the government had failed to set up a “genuine humanitarian” visa scheme.

“At the core of that is a vacuum and worse that’s been created by the Albanese government through their repeated refusal to offer a genuine humanitarian visa to people fleeing genocide,” Senator David Shoebridge said.

“There was messaging just two weeks ago from the new Minister (Tony Burke) that he was contemplating creating a new visa class, but it appears they’ve been spooked by Peter Dutton and Labor are now refusing to do this most basic thing to create a genuine humanitarian visa class for people fleeing a genocide.”