Peter Dutton: Accept Gazan refugees — but only after extensive vetting
When Labor, the Teals and Greens accuse the Coalition of being ‘racist’ and ‘heartless’, they expose a complete disregard for our national security, writes Peter Dutton.
Opinion
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The Nazis tried to conceal their crime of murdering six million Jews. Hamas felt no guilt when they carried out their terrorist attack on October 7. They invaded Israel with body cams and phones to film their butchery of 1200 people
During my trip to Israel, I watched 47 minutes of horrific and uncensored footage of Hamas’s atrocities taken from these devices.
As Hamas slaughtered innocent adults and children, raped women, and mutilated their victims, the terrorists acted with glee. They called family members to boast about their cruelty. If there are shades of evil, Hamas is evil’s darkest shade.
Hamas’s intent has been clear from its Charter dating back to 1988 – the destruction of Israel and the killing of Jews.
In a conflict zone, polling must always be questioned, but not ignored. Results of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research’s poll taken in June are telling: 57 per cent of Gazans surveyed support Hamas’s attack on October 7 (a figure that was 71 per cent in March); 64 per cent supported armed intifada. Only 32 per cent supported a two-state solution – the coexistence of a Jewish and Palestinian state.
We need to be clear-eyed about Palestinians in Gaza.
Some Gazans are Hamas terrorists. Some will have been accomplices in holding hostages.
Some may not be violent, but support Hamas – a declared terrorist organisation – and its use of violence. Some may have no fondness for Hamas, but will be anti-Semitic.
And some Gazans will be people of good character, potentially able and willing to integrate into a democratic nation and subscribe to its values.
After all, there will be Gazans who despise the terrorist regime under which they live. Hamas conceals its military headquarters and weapons in hospitals, schools and mosques. It uses Gazans as human shields. It discriminates against minorities and persecutes homosexuals.
But here’s the problem. We cannot tell who’s who, unless thorough background checks are done.
When I was home affairs minister, I granted humanitarian visas to some 12,000 Syrians and Iraqi refugees, including Yazidis, fleeing ISIS. I also granted humanitarian visas to Afghans who supported us in the fight against al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
Extensive vetting was undertaken. Checks were done by ASIO and against our allies’ intelligence data sets. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with individuals in third countries. In many cases, the process took 12 months. Only then did we admit people into our country. They have contributed to our nation in many fields of endeavour, like refugees before them.
This rigorous vetting process has been abandoned by Prime Minister Albanese. His hopeless former immigration minister, Andrew Giles, granted tourist visas to 3000 Gazans – an entirely inappropriate visa for people coming to Australia from a war zone and territory controlled by terrorists.
These visas were granted in 24 hours, on average. No face-to-face interviews have been conducted.
Of the 3000 visas granted to Gazans, 1300 people are already in Australia. About 500 people have already applied for protection, and could be here indefinitely.
This entire process has been negligent and without precedent.
The incompetent Andrew Giles is the same person who, as immigration minister, released more than 150 hardcore criminals from immigration detention into the community, many of whom have reoffended.
There’s a real possibility that the Albanese government has allowed Hamas sympathisers and anti-Semites into our country by failing to conduct necessary checks.
The fact that countries close to Gaza – Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and the Arab states – have all refused to accept any refugees reveals the risk in the Gazan cohort.
The Prime Minister misled the parliament by misquoting the director-general of ASIO in saying that all Gazans granted visitor visas are being security checked by ASIO. The truth is, they’re not.
In presiding over a rushed and reckless granting of visas to Gazans, Anthony Albanese has abrogated his first duty to this country: keeping Australians safe.
Instead of debating the facts, Labor, the Teals and the Greens accuse the Coalition of being “racist” and “heartless”.
When they do, they prove they are not only Hamas’s useful idiots, they also expose their complete disregard for our national security.
Peter Dutton is the federal Opposition Leader
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