‘Heartless’: Peter Dutton grilled over Gaza visa call

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has been grilled following his claims people fleeing Gaza should not be allowed visas into Australia.

Karl Stefanovic has asked Opposition Leader Peter Dutton if he’s a “heartless racist” after the politician declared Palestinians fleeing Gaza shouldn’t be allowed in Australia.

Mr Dutton demanded all visa applications from Gaza be refused amid claims people fleeing the war could pose a threat to Australia’s national security.

Coalition MPs wrote to Tony Burke on Tuesday, calling on the newly appointed Home Affairs Minister to tighten visa vetting for applicants from Gaza to ensure they held no rhetorical support for Palestinian militant group Hamas.

But Mr Dutton went a step further, telling Sky News no one from Gaza should be entering Australia right now.

“I don’t think people should be coming in through that war zone at all at the moment,” he said.

“It puts our national security at risk.”

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has been asked if he’s a ‘heartless racist’ after claiming Palestinians fleeing Gaza shouldn’t be allowed in Australia. Picture: Dan Peled / NewsWire

Mr Dutton was grilled over the comments on Today, with Stefanovic opening his interview by asking if he was a “heartless racist” and whether he had “any humanity”.

“We have to make decisions and they can be tough decisions, but the decisions are in our country’s best interests,” Mr Dutton said.

He claimed the Albanese government had brought in people from a war zone without doing face-to-face interviews in some cases.

“That is without precedent; 1300 people have come here on tourist visas, again, without precedent,” he said.

“I think it’s a massive, latest mess of the Albanese government, and it puts our country at risk.”

He also claimed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese either “misled parliament” or “just didn’t have a clue what he was talking about” on Wednesday by saying the same process applies when bringing people out of Gaza as when Australia brought people over from Syria.

“That is just not true. Twelve months after we took that decision I was still being criticised for not bringing people here quickly enough,” he said.

Mr Dutton said face-to-face interviews were done in northern Iraq along with biometric testing.

“The government has done none of that,” he said.

“I’m sure the vast majority of these people are just innocent people fleeing a war zone, but our country’s best interest is served when we know who is coming here and when we have a proper process to exclude those who are sympathisers of a listed terrorist organisation.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese earlier said Mr Dutton ‘always seeks to divide’. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

When asked if it’s “all refugees” he wants to stop from coming into the country, Mr Dutton replied “we should stop people coming in from a war zone”.

“We don’t know if the proper checks haven’t been done … You bring 3000 people in, let’s say 99 per cent are good. If 1 per cent of people are questionable or sympathisers with a listed terrorist organisation, how on earth is that in our country’s best interests?”

He added his “job is to protect all Australians”.

“I’m not discriminating on any basis. I’m happy to see people brought in from the Middle East if they’ve been properly checked,” he said.

“We make decisions that are in our country’s best interests. That is not what Anthony Albanese has done.”

Senator Jane Hume also peddled her leader’s line, telling the ABC there should be a “temporary pause”.

“If we cannot do the security checks to ensure that those who are fleeing Gaza are not supporters of Hamas, then we have to take a temporary pause until we can be assured of that. We must do that to keep Australians safe,” she said.

The Coalition’s stance drew ire as the lower house sat, with independent MP Zali Steggall ripping into Mr Dutton after he moved a motion to suspend standing orders and debate Palestinian visas.

Ms Steggall told the House about a Palestinian refugee in her electorate who had received his visa under the former Coalition government.

“He had come to Australia under a visa approved by the Morrison government under the same systems,” she said.

But she snapped after Mr Dutton repeatedly interjected.

“We heard you in silence,” she said to Mr Dutton.

“You can hear me in silence. Stop being racist!”

Originally published as ‘Heartless’: Peter Dutton grilled over Gaza visa call