Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says Australian dual nationals won’t be banned from the US

MALCOLM Turnbull has defended his decision not to publicly condemn Donald Trump’s immigration ban, after confirming Australian dual nationals will be exempted.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says Australian dual nationals will be able to travel to the US. Picture: Mick Tsikas/AAP

PRIME Minister Malcolm Turnbull has defended his decision not to publicly condemn Donald Trump’s immigration ban, after confirming Australian dual nationals will be exempted.

Mr Turnbull said he had received a call this morning from Australia’s ambassador in Washington Joe Hockey about the ban.

“He’s had assurances, confirmation, from the White House that Australian passport holders — regardless of their place of birth or whether they are dual nationals or whether they hold another passport — will remain welcome to come and go to the United States in the usual way,” Mr Turnbull told Sky News on Tuesday.

The assurance matches those the US gave to the United Kingdom and Canada and came after confirmation from the national security adviser.

In explaining the exemption, Mr Turnbull said Australia had a “strong relationship” with the US, and said confirmation had come from US National Security Advisor, General Michael Flynn.

It means Australian dual nationals should be able to travel to the US in the same way they were prior to Donald Trump’s executive order that stopped people from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Yemen and Somalia from entering the US.

Mr Trump’s order signed on Friday has caused widespread confusion and shock, and a Melbourne schoolboy who was a dual Australian-Iranian citizen, was denied a visa on Monday to attend a space camp.

Now he is expected to join his classmates on a school trip to visit Orlando, Washington, and the US Space and Rocket Center in Alabama.

While many world leaders have condemned the ban, Mr Turnbull and other government MPs have avoided criticising the measures.

Mr Turnbull told reporters yesterday that it was “not my job” to run a commentary on domestic policies of other countries, and today defended his decision not the condemn the move.

“When I have frank advice to give to an American president, I give it privately, as good friends should, as wise prime ministers do, when they want to ensure they are best able to protect Australians and Australians’ national interest,” he told reporters in Canberra.

“Others can engage in commentary. My job is to stand up for Australia, Australian interests, and deliver, and that’s what we’ve done today.”

He said the Australian values had been made very clear.

“What I have done is made it very clear that our non-discriminatory immigration policy, our multicultural nation, our multicultural policies are not changing,” he told SkyNews.

But others have speculated that Mr Turnbull’s silence may be linked to a refugee resettlement deal that Australia has with the US, which will see asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus Island resettled in America.

Mr Turnbull publicly thanked Mr Trump for honouring the agreement after speaking with the President on the weekend.

.@TurnbullMalcolm says 'I don't comment on American domestic policy publicly, my job is to get results for Australians' #AMagenda #auspol pic.twitter.com/nNK0CyuyvC

— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) January 30, 2017

Opposition leader Bill Shorten used Facebook to take a swipe at Mr Turnbull, writing that while the US should be able to go about its business without interference from Australia, there were some issues where silence would be interpreted as agreement.

“For that reason, I need to say Mr Trump’s ban on refugees based upon their religion or country is appalling and ought to be ended as soon as possible,” he wrote.

But Mr Turnbull reminded the Labor leader he was not prime minister. “He will go out on anything that he thinks gives him a political advantage,” he said.

“He has no concern about our national interest and our national interest is best protected by me giving private counsel to the United States, our most important ally, (and) publicly refraining from commenting on their domestic policy.”

Greens Leader Richard Di Natale says the prime minister passed up a great opportunity to show some leadership.

Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus cited a Facebook post by former US ambassador to Australia Jeffrey Bleich, condemning the new administration.

Mr Bleich took to social media to label the visa ban illegal and cruel, saying it violates the most basic tenets of the US.

“I take no pleasure in condemning our nation’s actions,” he wrote. “But the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.”

— With AAP