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

It was telling today that the last question of question time from our side went to the Prime Minister was about a character test. Sadly, this week we have seen the Prime Minister's character put to test. He has been asked question after question after question on very serious national security issues, and he has failed to fully answer any of them. After three days of questioning, we got a partial answer to a figure which had already been reported on the Channel 7 news. We got that out of the Prime Minister, but that was it. The Australian people are feeling like they're being treated with contempt. They have no trust when it comes to national security and this government, especially when it comes to immigration, because they have seen, time and time again, the government fail them. That is why they are looking at the Prime Minister and saying, 'Please, for once, give us a straight answer.' Time and time again, the Prime Minister continues to fail them.

We even had the absurd status where the Prime Minister said he couldn't talk because it was similar to on-water matters. Yet as Channel 7 pointed out in their news report, this was something that the Prime Minister rallied against. He said: 'We cannot have that. We need to make sure the questions are answered in the parliament.' The new immigration minister, when these issues were raised, came into this place and said the parliament deserves answers, yet what have we heard this week? Nothing but a cone of silence. We have seen the Prime Minister duck and weave like an Australian batsman facing the West Indies fast bowlers when they were at their best—duck and weave, duck and weave, duck and weave.

Today, we saw this on display, sadly, with the last two questions. I want to repeat these questions—they were asked by the member for Berowra. He asked them to the Prime Minister:

On 7 October, Hamas terrorists went into small Israeli farming villages and a music festival, where they filmed themselves gleefully murdering children, raping women and mutilating their victims, including after death. Thirteen hundred innocent people were [hunted] down and murdered for sport and 251 hostages were forced at gunpoint into Hamas … tunnels under Gaza. On return, thousands of people were dancing in the street in celebration. Does supporting Hamas pass the character test for an Australian visa?

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