Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

In 2007, under the previous government. I also understand that Hizb ut-Tahrir has not been proscribed as a terrorist organisation in Australia and is not proscribed in the United Kingdom or the USA. In 2007, the then Attorney General, Phillip Ruddock, said that this organisation has not done anything to warrant its banning in Australia. Obviously the government condemns any violence or exhortation to violence or extremism, and we are all particularly disturbed by the nature of the protests in Sydney the other day.

Can I also say, though, that all visa applicants in Australia must be assessed against the character requirements and public interest criteria of the Migration Act. Australia, as you know, has strong laws against urging violence and inciting terrorism, and any accusation of such behaviour will be investigated accordingly and taken into account. Anyone found guilty of inciting a terrorism offence can face up to 10 years imprisonment. But as I understand it this person has been considered before, and currently the organisation is not proscribed by the United Kingdom or the United States.