Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Fawcett. I'm sure that Senator Fawcett would agree that Australia has a proud record of working with our international allies to help people escape from a crisis, such as what we are seeing in Gaza right now. The war between Israel and Hamas has displaced millions of Palestinians, and Australia has once again done its part. But we've not allowed this to comprise our national security. Our security and intelligence agencies have taken exactly the same approach here as they took with Ukrainians who arrived after the Russian invasion in 2022 and with Afghans who fled from the Taliban, under the former government.

I'm a little surprised to hear someone like Senator Fawcett, who I know has a great deal of respect for our armed forces and our security agencies, question the judgement—