Scott Morrison compares Hamas-supporting refugees from Gaza to Nazi sympathisers as he slams Anthony Albanese

Scott Morrison has hit out at Anthony Albanese for allowing Hamas-sympathising refugees into Australia.

Scott Morrison has compared Anthony Albanese granting Australian visas to Hamas supporters from Gaza as akin to allowing Nazi sympathisers into Australia.

The former Prime Minister has offered his views in the wake of ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess suggesting that “rhetorical support” for Hamas should not prevent visa applications from being approved for people coming from Gaza.

In the wake of those comments, Labor frontbencher Bill Shorten suggested some Gazan refugees would need to support Hamas if they were from that region to protect their children and families from harm.

But Mr Morrison has dismissed the spy chief’s comments, insisting that if he was still Prime Minister he would not allow sympathisers of the terrorist group into the country regardless of the excuses they offered for supporting Hamas.

Palestinians in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. Picture: Eyad Baba/AFP

“It’s like asking would we allow those who’d supported the Stalinist purges or had sympathies with Nazis,” he told Sky News host Sharri Markson.

“And people go, ‘Well that’s outrageous, you can’t draw that parallel.’ I can, October 7th. I can draw it exactly in a big, thick line.

“And that’s what we’re talking about here. October 7th gets just lost in this debate. The single greatest act of genocide against the Jewish people in a day since the Holocaust.”

Mr Morrison said that Gaza was a terrorist-controlled war zone and a majority of people in Gaza would be in favour of Hamas if the region was to hold an election.

Female Israeli soldiers being kidnapped on October 7. Picture: Handout/AFP

“Hamas is a terrorist organisation. But more than that, it is a terrorist organisation committed to anti-Semitism, which involves the destruction, annihilation of the Jewish people,” he said.

“Any view or support for such an organisation … I could not think of something more at odds with passing a character test to live as an Australian in Australia.”

The former Prime Minister said it was “inexplicable” Director-General Burgess was willing to overlook Hamas support when considering visa applications.

“Mike Burgess is an outstanding public servant, I’ve worked with Mike over a long period of time in many different roles. And, whether he used a different form of words today as opposed to then, only he can say,” he said.

Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Picture: Samuel Corum

“I find that completely inconsistent with what I would hear regularly from him over a long period of time. And I don’t think at all that Mike Burgess would be an apologist for Hamas or anything like it.”

The Prime Minister was repeatedly asked last week in question time if he agreed advocates of the terrorist organisation should not be allowed into Australia.

Mr Albanese maintained the government had acted in line with guidelines set by ASIO, which carried on from the Coalition government.

“We’ve been guided every single step of the way by our security agencies. Anyone who has been given a visa has passed the same security standard,” he told parliament.

A pro-Palestine rally in Melbourne. Picture: Lawrence Pinder

“What our agencies do … is constantly examine issues. That doesn’t stop when someone is granted a visa.

“This is an ongoing process … regardless of where people are coming from, and the circumstances. Their priority is security.”

Mr Morrison also backed Liberal leader Peter Dutton’s stance on the visa debate.

Independent teal MP Zali Steggall has accused Mr Dutton of being “racist” over his policy stance, a position Mr Morrison said was an “absurd, lazy and appalling slur”.

“I mean, Peter and I both dealt with this during the course of the previous government. If someone doesn’t agree with your border protection and immigration policies, they just call you a racist,” he said.

“I think Peter has spoken out in the national security interest. It’s not a one-size-fits-all policy. You need to be cognisant of blatant risks that are there, and you need to adjust your policy.

“It’s a very dangerous world, and it can’t be you can’t run an immigration policy on the vibe.”

Originally published as Scott Morrison compares Hamas-supporting refugees from Gaza to Nazi sympathisers as he slams Anthony Albanese