Western Sydney not a dumping ground for ISIS brides – Minister

Labor should stop using western Sydney as a “dumping ground” for the returning families of terrorists, Western Sydney Minister David Elliott has declared.

Labor should stop using western Sydney as a “dumping ground” for the returning families of terrorists, Western Sydney Minister David Elliott has declared.

With four Australian-born women and 13 children returned last Saturday – and more set to be repatriated – the Veterans Affairs Minister said Labor was “patronising the west” by “creating unnecessary anxiety among ethnic groups”.

“At some stage we have to say ‘enough’ and put our own national interests first. I know as a former prison’s minister these people are hard enough to monitor in custody, let alone in the community” he said.

“Western Sydney should not be used as a dumping ground for returning families of terrorists just so the Prime Minister can placate the left. As Veterans Minister this decision concerns me as contemporary returned servicemen and women, and their families, may feel betrayed that we are literally inviting our enemy home to stay.”

Australian women at the Al-Hawl camp in northeast Syria. Picture: Supplied

Labor was “patronising the west” by “creating unnecessary anxiety among ethnic groups”, said Mr Elliott.

“It’s a disgrace that it’s just presumed western Sydney can accommodate them. Why isn’t Melbourne, or indeed the Prime Minister’s own electorate hosting these returnees – the Labor Party is playing politics with our safety”.

Accusing Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of “placating the left”, the former prisons and counter-terrorism minister said the move had also placed an “unnecessary burden” on law enforcement and intelligence agencies with the NSW government also still have no evidence to suggest the returned families had been “de-radicalised”.

At best, the families should have been first sent to a third country such as Jordan, Turkey “or even Malaysia” where they could be deradicalised before coming to Australia, Mr Elliott said.

“Putting them straight into suburban western Sydney is not the answer and western Sydney Labor MPs Chris Bowen and Andrew Charlton know that which is why they have been silent on the issue,” he said.

The comments follow similar concerns raised by western Sydney independent MP for Fowler Dai Le, who has been calling on the Federal government for greater transparency with its repatriation plans.

Refugees want clarity about how ISIS brides will be reintegrated into Western Sydney. Picture: Sixty Minutes

The women and children arrived in Sydney last Saturday after the government announced it would repatriate them from the al-Roj Syrian camp – where they had been living since the fall of Islamic State in 2019.

The Australian-born women, who were married to radicalised members of the terrorist organisation, were returned to Australia after they fled following an ASIO operation.

Another 43 women and children are set to be repatriated.

Ms Le said there were constituents in her electorate who had escaped the ISIS regimen, with many having reached out to raise their concerns about the repatriation operation.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil has defended the return of the families. Picture: Pradeep Pathirana

In an ABC interview on Friday, Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil defended the return of the families who had been assessed by ASIO as being low-risk, saying there was a greater risk to Australia should those children have been left to grow up in the camps “where a key focus and influence on their life is violent ideology.”

“One of the things I think hasn’t really been properly aerated and discussed here is the risk to Australia if we do nothing,” she said.

“National security matters are handled sensitively, delicately, methodically, calmly, and that is how we’ve conducted this exercise.”

The federal government has previously pointed to other western countries who have been repatriating families, including Canada, the US, Denmark, and The Netherlands.

Ms O’Neil said no decision had been made on when the next group would arrive, but said she believed they were “coming here to Victoria”.