Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to move the following motion:

That this House:

(1) notes that the Albanese Government has so far granted almost 3,000 visitor visas to individuals from the Gaza warzone;

(2) notes that in question time yesterday, the Prime Minister claimed that his government has done this under 'exactly the same arrangements as previous offshore refugee and humanitarian visa grants';

(3) notes that this is not true;

(4) notes that for the Syrian refugee intake, rigorous security checks were conducted prior to arrival in Australia at a number of key visa processing points, this included the collection and checking of biometric data against Australia's security agencies and those of our international partners, these checks were supplemented by interview with Australian departmental officers, where claims and identity were assessed;

(5) notes that these measures have not been undertaken under the Albanese government's change of policy to grant visitor visas, including to people who have expressed sympathy for the Hamas terrorist organisation; and

(6) therefore requires the Prime Minister immediately attend the chamber and explain why he misled this House.

Leave not granted.

It's no surprise that the government would seek to gag this debate, because it's not a debate that they want to have. This is an issue of national significance, and the Prime Minister should be here—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The Leader of the Opposition will resume his seat. You don't have leave. There's no motion. The Leader of the Opposition will need to move a motion rather than just giving a speech. I call the Leader of the Opposition.

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the Leader of the Opposition from moving the following motion—

That this House:

(1) notes that the Albanese Government has so far granted almost 3,000 visitor visas to individuals from the Gaza warzone;

(2) notes that in question time yesterday, the Prime Minister claimed that his government has done this under 'exactly the same arrangements as previous offshore refugee and humanitarian visa grants';

(3) notes that this is not true;

(4) notes that for the Syrian refugee intake, rigorous security checks were conducted prior to arrival in Australia at a number of key visa processing points, this included the collection and checking of biometric data against Australia's security agencies and those of our international partners, these checks were supplemented by interview with Australian departmental officers, where claims and identity were assessed;

(5) notes that these measures have not been undertaken under the Albanese government's change of policy to grant visitor visas, including to people who have expressed sympathy for the Hamas terrorist organisation; and

(6) therefore requires the Prime Minister immediately attend the chamber and explain why he misled this House.

This is an egregious breach of what is in our country's best interests. This Prime Minister has one charge, the first and most important charge: to keep our country safe, and he has lost control of the national security agenda. The Prime Minister of our country came into this parliament yesterday and clearly demonstrated that he had no idea what our security agencies were doing. He had no idea how to manage the program. What we know is that this is an Andrew Giles special. Andrew Giles, the disgraced and now sacked immigration minister, brought in 152 people—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The Leader of the Opposition will pause. The member for Newcastle, on a point of order?

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to remind the Leader of the Opposition to refer to members by their correct titles.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Leader of the Opposition has the call and will use the correct titles.

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The disgraced and now sacked Minister Giles was responsible for releasing 152 hardened criminals, noncitizens, from immigration detention into the Australian community when he didn't need to do so.

Government members interjecting—

I hear the cries opposite. Go and talk to the elderly lady in Perth who was attacked by one of these people who had been released by Minister Giles and to the others who have fallen victim to these hardened criminals since they were unnecessarily released by the Albanese government.

Not only was that botched, but now we know that 3,000 people were issued with visas and that 1,300 of them have been allowed into our country—not under the refugee and humanitarian program but on visitor visas. Some people have tried to equate this to the number of visitor visas that have been issued to people from Israel, which is an absolute outrage. When comparing people who come from Israel on a visitor visa, the comparable statistic is to the number of people who have come from London or the number of people who have come from New Zealand or the number of people who have come from Jordan on a visitor visa to our country. Israel is not run by a terrorist organisation. Hamas is a listed terrorist organisation.

A government member interjecting

I notice the Labor member there scoffing at that suggestion, but the fact is that Hamas is a listed terrorist organisation. The Israeli government is a democratically elected government. They are an ally of our country. They have helped thwart terrorist attacks in our country. If you look at public polling in the Gaza strip today, between 40 and 75 per cent of people have sympathy for the Hamas terrorist organisation. Imagine if the Howard government or the Morrison government had suggested that we would bring people in who are sympathisers to Saddam Hussein or to al-Qaeda or to ISIL or to ISIS. There would rightly have been public outrage and condemnation by the Labor Party. But the Labor Party has changed their policy to allow sympathisers of a listed terrorist organisation to come here under a visitor visa. It's without precedent.

I know that Minister Burke has been appointed to clean up the mess of Minister Giles, but the Prime Minister needs to come into this chamber to show the leadership and the strength of character that so far he has failed to demonstrate. The level of antisemitism in our country is at a record high. People in the Jewish community feel unsafe, and the director-general of ASIO has rightly raised significant concerns. The problem is that the Albanese government is contributing to social disharmony and to disruption in this country at a time when it's certainly not required. The Prime Minister has made a bad decision.

The Prime Minister in this chamber yesterday misled the Australian public when he said that what is happening today is akin to what happened when we brought people in from Syria. It is not. When we brought people in from Syria, we staged them in northern Iraq. We brought people in, or we assessed people who were in Jordan and Oman. I was criticised at the time as the minister because 12 months down the track we hadn't brought the full number in, and that's because we were testing people's verification of the claims that they were making and of their identity and whether or not they were on databases that the United States held. The United States held the intelligence because they had fingerprints and DNA of IEDs and the like out of Iraq and out of Afghanistan.

Ironically for this government, the Israeli government and security services would have the most significant holdings on those people who are sympathetic to Hamas and those people who would have been involved in, connected with or sympathetic to the attacks on kibbutzim and the attacks at the Supernova music festival, where 1,200 people were killed and over a hundred are still being held in the tunnel network.

That people could be brought from that region and that people could not be interviewed or that the government didn't have a process in place where there were face-to-face interviews is a complete and utter abrogation and failure of leadership of this Prime Minister. The fact that this Prime Minister has not come from his office this morning down to this chamber to answer these claims and to defend himself shows how weak he is.

The Australian public get it. They know that this country's been made less safe by Anthony Albanese. They know that this Prime Minister doesn't have the strength of character to provide the leadership to see our country through an uncertain period. For the Prime Minister now to have created this mess and not to be here to explain how he's going to clean it up shows how out of touch this Prime Minister has become and how he has failed his basic obligations as the Prime Minister of this country. Our country deserves strong leadership and the ability to make tough decisions which are in our country's best interests.

This is not against people of a particular religious belief. This is not against people of a particular political persuasion. This is about keeping our country safe, and Anthony Albanese has failed the Australian public and he should stand condemned. The fact that the Prime Minister cannot come to this chamber and provide an explanation and an apology for his misleading yesterday is a true reflection on his poor character. We deserve more as a country, and certainly every Australian deserves to feel safe but today, because of Anthony Albanese, the Australian public is less safe.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

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

Yes, the motion is seconded. Yesterday in question time the Prime Minister was asked a very simple question by the shadow minister for trade and tourism:

Can the Prime Minister guarantee that no individual who participated in or supported the October 7 Hamas terror attacks—the worst mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust—has been granted a visa by his government?

In responding to that question, he said, 'Exactly the same security arrangements as previous offshore refugee and humanitarian visa grants had been followed.' Yet when the member for Flinders asked the new Minister for Immigration the follow-up question, 'Have any visas for individuals coming from the Gaza war zone been granted without an in-person interview?' the new immigration minister could not answer that question.

What he did was show that the Prime Minister had misled this parliament, because he had said all processes had been followed as they had been done previously. And they hadn't, because you did not do in-person interviews, as was the normal process that has been followed. That's why the Prime Minister should come in here right now and correct the record. This goes to his fundamental responsibility: keeping the Australian community safe. The sad reality from this government is that time and time again we have seen them failing at this No. 1 duty to keep the Australian community safe.

'Why are we asking these questions?' you might ask. We're asking these questions because the minister who was then in charge has shown that he was not up to the job. All this was taking place under the former minister, Minister Giles. We know that when Minister Giles was brought under pressure he was prepared to say things in this chamber which later FOI records have shown were not true. Now we have the Prime Minister doing exactly the same thing. We know Minister Giles didn't live up to the ministerial code of conduct that the Prime Minister put in place. Now the Prime Minister won't live up to his own code of conduct. That is why he should be condemned.

What is at stake here? It's quite clear that what is at stake here is the safety of the Australian community. If you fail to undertake proper security checks then you leave the Australian community open to all sorts of possibilities that could occur. We've seen what has happened previously when the government has failed to keep the Australian people safe. As the Leader of the Opposition rightly pointed out, we have a victim in Perth who was, sadly, a direct victim of the incompetence of those opposite. We do not want to see that happen again. We will ask questions, we will demand answers and we will keep going on this until we get reassurances from the Prime Minister that he will take this seriously.

The first thing the Prime Minister should do is come and correct the record, because, if he comes and corrects the record, he will be admitting that the processes that were followed weren't the proper processes that were followed and that he was wrong in saying that exactly the same security arrangements were followed, because we know that is not true. Until he will admit that and until he demands that the new immigration minister does a proper and thorough check of everyone who has come into this country, the security of Australia is at risk.

We have to remember that already 416 of those people who have come into Australia have sought to claim asylum. They have sought to claim asylum and they could be here for five to 10 years while that is processed. If you haven't done the security checks, if you haven't done the in-person interviews with those people, you are fundamentally putting the Australian community at risk. We say to the Prime Minister: where are you? Come in now and do your job. Keep the Australian community safe.

Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's extremely concerning to see the opposition turn up today with this suspension of standing orders and the words and the rhetoric that we're hearing here. It goes directly against the advice of ASIO and the concern around the polarisation in our communities—that whipping up of a sense of fear and that inference that, for example, our services and systems are not working. What I'd like to share is the human story, the real story, about some of the people we're talking about and the lives we're talking about.

And I would ask you to be silent! I have the floor!

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Cowper will cease interjecting. The member for Warringah will be heard, just as other members were heard, in silence.

Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In 2020, I met a man called Mohammed at the North Steyne Surf Life Saving Club. He had come to Australia under a visa approved by the Morrison government under the same systems. He came to participate in a surf lifesaving skills program. He wanted to give the children of Gaza an opportunity to learn water safety, to not drown, to have something positive on weekends. They loved that program. They attended. Unfortunately, after the horrendous events of October, that program, of course, ended. The bombing started. Many people that participated in that program have died. Many of the children have died. These are normal families. These are families that you are seeking to paint as all being terrorists, who should all be mistrusted and who are not worthy of humanitarian aid.

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Complete rubbish! Stop repeating the governments lines.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The Leader of the Opposition will cease interjecting.

Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We heard you in silence; you can hear me in silence. Stop being racist.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The Leader of the Opposition is seeking the call.

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That was an offensive and unparliamentary remark and it should be withdrawn.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! There is far too much noise. As I previously asked for the chamber to be silent, I'm just going to ask the member for Warringah, if she made an unparliamentary remark, to withdraw it to assist the House.

Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Could I have a clarification: is a description of language as being racist an unparliamentary remark?

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Kennedy will resume his seat. Just to assist the House so the debate can keep going, as has been previously ruled, I will just ask the member to withdraw and continue.

Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will withdraw to assist the House, and I would ask that the same respect be shown to me to make my contribution to the chamber as you were afforded, something that does not seem to be a common occurrence when it comes to the opposition.

This family, a beautiful family, where the father was trying to teach life-saving water safety skills to children of Gaza, came under the coalition. They were vetted by the same systems.

Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That's wrong.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Petrie! If we can show more respect during this debate, it would greatly assist the House.

Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Again, it's very easy to dehumanise people seeking safety. It's very easy to paint them with the brush that somehow they are all to be feared. But the reality is that we are talking about parents caring about their children—children who are at risk and are in a horrendous situation.

So, after the events and the horrendous situation they found themselves in, Mohammed sought to bring his family to safety, and he was able to. My community of the Northern Beaches—the community of North Steyne Surf Life Saving Club—rallied behind this family. They applied for visas, supported them and sponsored them, by hook or by crook. The details of how they were able to reach safety are quite incredible. They were able to get out, and I met with them only a few weeks ago in my office in Manly. They're beautiful children who deserve the opportunity to grow up, to go to school and to have an education.

So to suggest that families like Mohammed's family are not deserving of being able to escape a war zone and seek safety for their children is offensive, and it goes against what it is to be Australian, which is to be there for people in need and to offer safety and security to people who deserve it. So I am offended by the rhetoric from the Leader of the Opposition, the nature of this motion for suspension of standing orders and the continued attempts to divide Australian society on these lines and issues. We are better than this. We've just seen the Olympic Games, where we've got the idea that sport is bringing people together, and you are doing everything you can to separate and divide our communities.

We are a multinational, multicultural country, Member for Kennedy. We are multicultural, and it is important to remember that.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Kennedy will cease interjecting.

Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Small Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the debate be adjourned.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question before the House is that the debate be adjourned.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before members leave, if they can remain in their seats briefly. I want to remind members while you're all here of just a couple of standing orders that were breached during that last debate. I can appreciate the topic, and I can appreciate the emotion involved with the debate. Under standing order 64, in the House and the Federation Chamber, a member shall not be referred to by name but by one of the following forms as appropriate: the member's ministerial office, not their name but their ministerial title, or the parliamentary office that the office holds. Standing order 65 requires all remarks to go through the chair to make sure there is respect shown to each other and to the chair. And, under standing order 89, a member must not use offensive words against either house of the parliament or a member of the parliament. I just remind all members to refresh themselves of those standing orders for the remainder of the day.