Spy chiefs set the record straight on Gaza dilemma

ASIO director-general Mike Burgess has made a welcome clarification to his remarks about what must be expected of anyone wanting to seek access to live in Australia. It should be stating the obvious that support for a terrorist organisation that murders children and rapes innocent women, and films and broadcasts the results, should be a disqualifying trait of character. But weeks of doubt over Mr Burgess’s position have underpinned an unedifying political argument in which the Albanese government has sought to undermine the character of Peter Dutton. As the results of this week’s Newspoll show, it has produced a race to the bottom, with both Anthony Albanese and the Opposition Leader losing personal support. The greater damage has been sustained by the Prime Minister, whose government is under pressure across a broad front that will get only worse if Wednesday’s economic data shows growth has slumped as most observers, and Jim Chalmers, expect it to do.

Mr Burgess now claims his earlier comments that rhetorical support for Hamas would not immediately disqualify Palestinian refugees seeking an Australian visa were misrepresented. He has told the ABC: “If you think terrorism is OK, if you think the destruction of the state of Israel is OK, if you think Hamas and what they did on the 7th of October is OK, I can tell you that is not OK, and from an ASIO security assessment point of view you will not pass muster.” The ABC report came after Sky News reported that Mr Burgess told a private gathering that support for Hamas would constitute a security threat, whereas mere support for Palestinian statehood would not.

Meanwhile, the former head of British spy agency MI6, Sir Richard Dearlove, told Sky News that Australia should pause immigration from the Gaza Strip because there was a danger that some migrants might be Hamas activists. He said the ethnic composition of our immigrant communities exposed Australia to what was happening in the Middle East.

Last month Mr Burgess said rhetorical support that did not support a violent extremism ideology would not be a problem for someone seeking a visa to come to Australia. His clarification on Tuesday demonstrates that Mr Burgess has found himself in the uncomfortable position of being collateral damage in a political contest over national security. On this issue, Mr Dutton has been correct to push the federal government over its decision to issue tourist visas to those wanting to escape the war in Gaza in an apparent attempt to fast-track the process. More than half of the 1300 people fleeing Gaza who have come to Australia on tourist visas have now claimed asylum. The federal government was foolish in its attempt to take shortcuts on the issue, whatever its motivation might have been.

By not following a rigorous process the government has ensured that any future compassionate response will be more difficult. Mr Dutton is right to insist proper vetting be undertaken on anyone already granted access to Australia and those seeking to do so in the future. Labor was too quick to play the man over the issue rather than admit its mistakes. Safeguarding the integrity of our borders and immigration system must always be a first-order priority for government. Mr Burgess’s latest comments and the expertise of Britain’s former spy chief adequately explain why this is no simple matter when it comes to taking people from the middle of an active war zone in an area controlled by terrorists.