Immigration ban: Julie Bishop ‘in talks’ with US as Malcolm Turnbull won’t comment
PRIME Minister Malcolm Turnbull has refused to weigh in on President Donald Trump’s executive order to temporarily ban citizens from the US.
PRIME Minister Malcolm Turnbull has refused to comment on President Trump’s executive order to temporarily ban the citizens of several countries from the US.
Despite other world leaders condemning the order, Mr Turnbull said he would not comment on the domestic politics of another nation.
He said no Australian citizens had sought assistance from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade regarding the ban as yet.
The Prime Minister also confirmed President Trump would honour a deal with Australia to resettle refugees on Manus Island and Nauru in the US but declined to give further detail on when the resettlement would take place or how many refugees would be included.
“It is not my job, as Prime Minister of Australia, to run a commentary on the domestic policies of other countries,” Mr Turnbull told reporters in Canberra today.
“We have, here in Australia, border security arrangements which are the envy of the world,” he said.
UNDERSTAND THE BAN: How Australian travellers are affected
“If others wish to emulate what we’re doing, they’re welcome to do so but I am not about to run a commentary on other country’s practices.”
Mr Turnbull said if Australian citizens did have issues entering the US the Government would take it up with the Trump Administration.
“We have a very close relationship with the United States and when we want to engage in discussions of this kind, we do so privately and frankly,” he said.
Opposition leader Bill Shorten weighed into the debate on Twitter this afternoon.
It's time for leadership. pic.twitter.com/Dn8sajILG2
— Bill Shorten (@billshortenmp) January 30, 2017
Mr Turnbull added US officials had been on Nauru to begin the screening process of refugees applying for resettlement in the US.
But he said it was entirely up to the US Government who they accepted and when.
Speaking alongside the Prime Minister in Canberra today, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said the Coalition Government was determined to close the detention centres on Manus Island and Nauru as quickly as possible.
“We want to do that as quickly as possible, we want to close detention centres, get all the children out of detention, and we will not allow that success to be undermined by ruthless people smugglers,” Mr Dutton said.
‘MISSING IN ACTION’
Mr Turnbull’s press conference came after Opposition deputy leader Tanya Plibersek accused the his government of being ‘missing in action’ on the issue.
“I think it’s extraordinary that the Australian Government seems missing in action on this action from the United States,” Ms Plibersek told media this morning.
“We don’t know how this ban will affect Australian citizens or permanent residents who were born in one of these countries,” she said.
“I think it’s absolutely vital now that the Australian Government seek clarification about how this will affect Australian citizens.
Opposition Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong has written to Julie Bishop asking whether the Coalition Government has sought to clarify with the Trump Administration how Australian dual nationals will be affected by the US travel ban.
Both the Canadian and British governments have clarified their citizens with dual nationality would be exempt from the ban.
“I seek your advice on what representations the Government has made to the United States Administration on behalf of these Australians, and confirmation on whether the executive order applies to Australian dual nationals,” Senator Wong wrote.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade yesterday issued an advisory stating Australians holding dual-citizenship with Iran, Iraq, Sudan or Syria were no longer eligible to apply for an ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorisation) to enter the United States.
“Any of these Australians who have previously been issued an ESTA are likely to have the ESTA revoked,” a DFAT statement reads.
“Australians who have travelled to Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen since 1 March 2011 will also no longer be eligible to apply for an ESTA to enter the United States under the VWP.”
But a clarification issued by the British Foreign Office appears to contradict this, stating only dual-citizenship holders departing from the named nations would be affected by the ban.
Ms Plibersek declined to comment directly on the executive order from President Trump but condemned “flat out discrimination” based on religion, ethnicity or country of origin.
“Australia has had a non-discriminatory immigration policy for 40 years and that’s served us very well,” she said.
“We are stronger as a nation when we are united.
“Of course, any country has the right to do background checks, to be careful and cautious about who it invites to become a permanent resident or a citizen but flat out discrimination based on religion or ethnicity or country of origin has never served us well.”
‘THERE’S GOT TO BE MORE TO IT’: HANSON
Pauline Hanson has praised Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull for managing to pull off a refugee swap agreement with US President Donald Trump but believes there is more to the deal.
Given his executive order to restrict immigration, the One Nation leader has questioned why President Trump would agree to resettle an undisclosed number of asylum seekers currently in Australia’s offshore detention centres.
“Why would Donald Trump agree to this,” Senator Hanson said on Channel Seven’s Sunrise program this morning.
“There has got to be more to this, just look at it.
“He’s put bans on people coming into the country from certain countries, he is also halting the refugee program in America.
“I’m just asking the question, is there more to this than what we are made aware of? It will come out in the end.”
Independent senator Derryn Hinch told Sunrise he thought President Trump’s immigration ban made a “sick joke” of the Statue of Liberty’s message “send us your huddled masses”.
Senator Hinch also said he was surprised the President agreed to honour his predecessor’s refugee agreement with the Turnbull Government.
“In that climate, yes, I am surprised that he did the deal with the refugees here, whether it’s 1000 or 2000 we do not know,” he said.
“We don’t know what to do in reply, or how much it costs, we don’t know yet.”
"We see the United States as the most important power to ensure peace, stability and prosperity in our region." ~The Hon @JulieBishopMP pic.twitter.com/uBa8xyd5w7
— G'DAY USA (@GDAYUSAofficial) January 27, 2017
CONFUSION GRIPS AUSSIE DUAL CITIZENS
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Australia is seeking the same preferential treatment for dual citizens extended by the United States that British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson says he has secured for Britons.
“I have directed our officials in Washington DC to work with us officials to ensure that any preferential treatment that is extended to any other country is extended to Australia,” she told News Corp in Los Angeles.
Ms Bishop said she had spoken with Prime Minister Turnbull since his first conversation with President Trump.
“He was very pleased with the call it was very engaging. They discussed a whole range of bilateral, regional and global issues,” she said.
Ms Bishop said she had “two very constructive conversations” with Vice President Mike Pence about the migration ban.
“He was very well briefed on all of the details of the United States and Australian alliance and I am confident that we will continue to build our alliance and it will continue to go from strength to strength,” she said.
Trump signed an executive order on Friday temporarily suspending the entry of citizens of Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Iran, Somalia, Libya and Yemen into the US for at least 90 days, a move he billed as an effort to make America safe from “radical Islamic terrorists.”
He also suspended the US refugee program for 120 days and ordered his administration to develop “extreme vetting” measures for migrants from the seven countries.
On Saturday, a US judge issued a temporary halt to the deportation of visa holders or refugees stranded at US airports. The emergency decision blocks part of Trump’s controversial executive order.
EXPLAINER: How Trump’s immigration ban will work
Statement on what the Presidential exec order on inbound migration to US means to Brit nationals/dual nationals. https://t.co/1vpjcXbZBg
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) January 29, 2017
UNCERTAIN IMPACT
Ms Bishop would not confirm if any Australians had been denied entry to the US under the Muslim ban, but said “consular staff are working closely with the United States officials.”
“The Australian government is working very closely with the administration and the United States officials and we want to ensure that Australians continue to have access to the United States as they have in the past and as people from the United States have access to Australia,” she said.
Meanwhile, UK Foreign Minister Boris Johnson has also been in touch with US officials. His office has released a statement clarifying that only dual citizens travelling from one of the nations on the banned list itself would be subject to the President’s travel orders.
The statement reads:
Statement on what the Presidential exec order on inbound migration to US means to Brit nationals/dual nationals. https://t.co/1vpjcXbZBg
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) January 29, 2017
The Presidential executive order only applies to individuals travelling from one of the seven named countries.
IF you are travelling to the US from anywhere other than one of those countries (for instance, the UK) the executive order does not apply to you and you will experience no extra checks regardless of your nationality or your place of birth.
IF you are a UK national who happens to be travelling from one of those countries to the US, then the order does not apply to you — even if you were born in one of those countries.
IF you are a dual citizen of one of those countries travelling to the US from OUTSIDE those countries then the order does not apply to you.
THE only dual nationals who might have extra checks are those coming from one of the seven countries themselves — for example a UK-Libya dual national coming from Libya to the US.
TRADE TURMOIL
Australian technology companies have called on the federal government to condemn Donald Trump’s US visa changes, which they say will impact staff.
According to industry group TechSydney, a number of employees in the city’s tech sector are affected by the weekend decision, including dual-nationals working in and visiting the US.
HotelsCombined CEO Hichame Assi, a dual national British-Syrian who moved to Australia in 2008, can’t travel to the US for the next 90 days even though he has a valid visa.
“We employ people of all nationalities, including dual-nationality Australians,” Mr Assi said in a statement on Monday.
“These developments in the US are not only disruptive to our business and our people, they’re very troubling and are creating more tensions at a time when empathy is required.”
HAWKE: KEEP YOUR FRIENDS CLOSE ...
Former Prime Minister Bob Hawke urged Australian and world leaders not to isolate new US president Donald Trump.
The former Labor leader said the US president’s rule is now “a fact of life” and world leaders must accept that.
“I think we should hold our hand out to Trump and say, ‘You’ve been elected, we accept that, and we want to talk confidently with you’,” he told the Nine Network’s 60 Minutes program.
“If he is isolated by definition he’s going to rely on his own attitude and resources and ideas.” Mr Hawke said the world was in a “terrible situation” where there was not one outstanding leader anymore at a time when it’s needed more than ever.
The iconic Australian returned to the current affairs program with his wife Blanche d’Alpuget in a sequel to their controversial 1995 interview.
The interview with Roger Woolley, who also conducted their joint chat more than 20 years ago, covered a ranged of topics.
Ms d’Alpuget revealed in the update to their polarising love story, she didn’t know who her future husband was when they met.
“I had no idea who he was,” she said.
“But we sat down together on one of those swinging chairs and talked for about two hours.
“He was such an interesting man. and he was just of very good character. I perceived that immediately.”
Ms d’Alpuget was blamed for the breakdown of Mr Hawke’s marriage with his first wife Hazel.
“The fact that I was a writer and an international career out of the picture was simply airbrushed and I was portrayed as Bob’s much-younger trophy wife,” she said.
Mr Hawke also revealed his softer side by singing to his wife.
He also spoke about his love for cricket and beer after being given a standing ovation at the SCG earlier this month after skolling a drink.
“Without being sentimental, the Australian people, I really love what is between us,” he said.
“There’s a genuine rapport. Skolling a beer and the concept of an ex-PM seems to appeal to them.”
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