Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Women) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Yesterday the Prime Minister said he was running exactly the same process in granting visas to those in the Gaza war zone as the previous government did when accepting people from Syria and Afghanistan. As the Prime Minister knows, that is not what happened under our government, where people were removed to third-party countries and attended face-to-face interviews, and some visas took up to 12 months to process. Will the Prime Minister apologise for misleading the House?

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the deputy leader for her question. We take the same advice from the same security agencies, even the same security personnel, as the previous government did. We have confidence in our security agencies. If those opposite don't have confidence in those security agencies, they should say so. We don't discuss the details of the methods our agencies use to determine whether someone is a national security risk, which is something that those people who've been on a national security committee know is the case.

In 2017, then minister, now Leader of the Opposition, issued an additional 12,000 visas to Syrian and Iraqi refugees. He indeed issued a media release that said:

Australia welcomed these people who could now make a fresh start and build a safe future far from the horrors of the conflict. I encourage them to enjoy all that Australia has to offer …

If those people want to suggest what the Deputy Leader of the Opposition occurred, that that occurred when Kabul was being evacuated, then she must think that all of us have a very short memory. The fact is that that is what he said. When we were in opposition, we backed the government. We didn't look for a way to divide the country and we didn't look for a way to undermine national security, because we know it is simply too important to play games.

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

The member for Barker is now warned. The Prime Minister will be heard in silence.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

National security is too important for the sort of divisive politics that those opposite are trying to play here. They know that that's the case, but they simply don't care. For them, everything that happens is an opportunity to try to divide Australia. In spite of the director-general of ASIO's very clear warnings about the climate that we are in and his call for responsible political leadership, we're seeing anything but that from those opposite.

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

The Leader of the Opposition on a point of order?

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

Thank you, Mr Speaker, and I appreciate your advice in relationship to this matter. It's been brought to my attention that the Prime Minister, in quoting the director-general of ASIO earlier, misquoted the director-general. The Prime Minister said in his quote from Mr Burgess, 'If they've been issued a visa, they've gone through the process, they're referred to my organisation, and ASIO does its thing.' Mr Burgess actually said on Insiders: 'If they've been issued a visa, they've gone through the process. Part of the process is where criteria are hit they're referred to my organisation and ASIO does its thing.'

There's quite a different import from the Prime Minister's interpretation and I would ask you to invite the Prime Minister to correct the record given this is the first available opportunity for him to do that.

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

Just so that I'm clear, the Leader of the Opposition is claiming the ASIO director was misquoted? If the Prime Minister has made a statement and he believes it's incorrect, he has the ability to do that. Members don't normally intervene. I'll hear from the Leader of the House.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was just struggling to work out what standing order the point of order was on because it just sounded like a speech.

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

Order, members on my left. If people have an issue when something is being said, I remind all members that the time to do that is at the time. If you're taking a point of order and you believe someone is not being relevant, it's not after the case. If any minister or member has made a statement, they have the ability to correct it. But I don't know what was exactly said here. The Prime Minister on the point of order?

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm happy to respond on the point of order, Mr Speaker. The Leader of the Opposition has confirmed the accuracy of what I have said. What I have not done is read out the entire Insiders transcript. If he wishes me to do so, I will do so, but I read out three different things that the director-general of ASIO said.

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

We need to move on. Just for clarity, it places the Speaker in a difficult position when I don't have an exact copy of Hansard in front of me at the time. It's not normally the time to raise these issues. Moving forward, if someone believes someone has said the wrong thing or misquoted, the time to do that is not in question time. It's perhaps best raised in another forum or directly at the end of question time.

The Leader of the Opposition, further to the point of order?

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

Sorry to further delay you, Mr Speaker, but this is a very significant issue. The Prime Minister has had his attention drawn to a very serious matter. I raised it at the first point that I was made aware of it, so I couldn't raise the point of order at the conclusion of the Prime Minister's answer earlier. I wasn't suggesting earlier that there was a deliberate misleading of the House, but I am saying to you now that the Prime Minister's error has been drawn to the attention of the House. The Prime Minister has gone on—

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

Okay.

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

I think this is an important point. The Prime Minister has gone on to deliberately mislead this House. That is what has happened here. He has deliberately misled the House, and he should correct the record.

Government members interjecting—

Absolutely, he did.

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

Order! Resume your seat. The Leader of the Opposition raised a point, which I allowed with courtesy. The Prime Minister did respond to that regarding that matter.