Palestinians fear divisive debate will derail visa pathway

Advocates for new arrivals from Gaza fear divisive politics will derail Labor’s plans to grant Palestinians a pathway to permanent residency in Australia, as parliament was again consumed by a rancorous debate over visas for those fleeing the war.

Labor sharpened its attack on Peter Dutton over his call to stop people arriving from Gaza, accusing the opposition leader of compromising national security by disclosing sensitive information for political gain during his time as home affairs minister.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton during question time on Monday.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Monday called Dutton “the most divisive opposition leader that we have seen, and that should disqualify him from the prime ministership” while claiming the Coalition was pursuing culture wars to distract from its lack of economic policies.

But as the federal government tries to wrest the debate from Dutton, it has gone silent on its plans for a new visa pathway for the 1300 Palestinians who have arrived in Australia since the war began but are stuck on visitor visas that give them no rights to work or access social security.

“The government has had eight or nine months to review its options,” said Rasha Abbas, the executive director of Palestine Australia Relief and Action, which has been lobbying Labor to give Palestinians the same rights as those afforded to people who fled the Ukraine war.

“These are anxious people, and all this delay and rhetoric, every day they read it, it adds to their trauma and worry. We shouldn’t be playing politics with a cohort that has come here to be with their families. I hope there is a resolution as soon as possible.”

Dutton on Monday again called on Labor to outline ASIO’s criteria for security assessments and explain which Palestinians had been subject to them, in a continued political offensive that has sought to paint Labor as weak in its vetting of refugees from Gaza.

“[Former immigration minister Andrew Giles] has decided to bring people in from a war zone, which is controlled by a listed terrorist organisation, on tourist visas,” Dutton said.

“If you bring people in from a tourist visa, it’s like coming in from the United States … It’s issued automatically, without checks and balances,” Dutton said, in comments rejected by Labor, which insists there have been security processes.

Calling Dutton “irresponsible and a sook”, Immigration Minister Tony Burke countered: “In what universe does any security agency on the planet publicly disclose all its criteria? In what universe do they do that?”

The Coalition then spent its third straight question time demanding Labor give answers about the security checks before it granted 2922 visas to Palestinians, the majority of whom have been unable to escape the region. Most of those people have family ties to Australia and Israel had to approve those leaving.

“That is an entirely inappropriate visa for people coming to Australia from a war zone and territory controlled by a terrorist organisation,” opposition immigration spokesman Dan Tehan said.

He said it was disingenuous for Labor to dodge questions by claiming national security concerns when information about visa cancellations was regularly published by Home Affairs.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pointed out the Coalition had brought people from Ukraine on visitor visas during the initial stages of that conflict, and had issued 1000 visitor visas to Palestinians from the occupied territories during its time in office, while Hamas controlled the Gaza Strip. However, the government could not specify whether any of those people were from Gaza.

“Apparently, this leader of the opposition thinks that Hamas became bad on 7 October. Before then, they were OK ... The hypocrisy is extraordinary,” Albanese said.

Abbas, whose organisation is supporting 950 people from Gaza, said refugees from Ukraine had been given more expedient support and visa options than those in this conflict.

“Our worry is that we felt we were on a good path working closely with the government to a solution, and it [this debate] is not helpful,” she said.

Nasser Mashni, from the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network, said the Palestinians in Australia had nowhere to return to.

“The best time for it was yesterday, if not today, but please no later than tomorrow,” he said.

“That fact that Peter Dutton has decided to score cheap political points by politicising this humanitarian issue has necessitated that the government use political capital it has been reluctant to spend and thus made it harder for the minister to act in the appropriate way.”

Israel’s war in Gaza has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to the enclave’s Health Ministry. It was triggered by Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel, in which militants killed about 1200 people and abducted 250 others.

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