Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Hansard source

It's worth reminding the House what we're talking about here. There is no precedent in Australian history for bringing 1,300 people from the terrorist-controlled territory into this country on tourist visas, so something has happened that is absolutely unprecedented—1,300 people have been brought into this country from the terrorist controlled territory on tourist visas. As a responsible opposition, we first have to ensure that the government is doing its No. 1 priority: keeping the Australian people safe. Its No. 1 duty is keeping the Australian people safe. That is the question we've asked the Prime Minister: are you keeping the Australian people safe? The sad reality is that, both yesterday and today, the Prime Minister hasn't been truthful with the Australian people in answering those questions. And today he stooped to a new low. He sought to quote the director-general of ASIO to suit his purpose of misleading the Australian people. This is unprecedented. I cannot think of any time ever before in this place where a prime minister has sought to misquote the director-general of ASIO so that it suits his purpose for having misled the Australian people.

Let's go to the facts. On Insiders, David Speers asked the director-general this question: 'Sorry, those from Gaza who have come here have gone through the very standard checks.' Mike Burgess said:

If they've been issued a visa, they've gone through the process.

This is the important part:

Part of that visa process is where criteria are hit. They're referred to my organisation and ASIO does its thing.

What did the Prime Minister say in question time when he was quoting the director-general of ASIO—not some individual but the person whose responsibility it is to keep us safe? This is what the Prime Minister said in question time:

If they've been issued a visa, they've gone through the process … they're referred to my organisation and ASIO does its thing.

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