Paris attacks: Push to get Peter Dutton seat at security table

A renewed push is under way to install­ Peter Dutton as a permanent member of the national security committee.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton.

A renewed push is under way to install­ Immigration Minister Peter Dutton as a permanent member of the national security committee of cabinet, amid growing concerns terrorists could pose as asylum-seekers entering Australia.

The call came as Malcolm Turnbull issued reassurances yesterday that the looming intake of 12,000 Syrian refugees would not create a security risk following the Paris terror attacks.

The Prime Minister said all refugees were carefully screened by Australian authorities and confirmed he had discussed the issue with Australian Federal Police chief Andrew Colvin and ASIO head Duncan Lewis after it emerged that one of the terrorists involved in the Paris attacks appeared­ to have held a Syrian passport.

“In terms of refugees coming to Australia, they are all …. carefully screened and that is ensuring that their antecedents, their backgrounds, are as stated and that they do not pose security risks,” Mr Turnbull told the ABC.

A former commander of Australian forces in Iraq, Liberal Tasmanian MP Andrew Nikolic, told The Australian Mr Dutton should become a full-time member of the NSC. “I believe that greater risk arises when Peter Dutton is not there to see the important linkages between ministries and given that he’s responsible for immigration and visas and a whole range of issues­ ... risk diminishes when he is a permanent member of that committee.”

Mr Dutton was a permanent member of the NSC when Tony Abbott was prime minister but lost his full-time status under Mr Turnbull. He is now co-opted into meetings when required. Justice Minister and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Counter-Terrorism Michael Keenan is also a part-time member of the NSC.

Mr Dutton told The Australian the government would not rush into settling people but said many of the 12,000 refugees would have suffered at the hands of Islamic­ State and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

“From day one I have said that the most important thing is ensuring that the security and character checks are undertaken properly,” he said. “The government’s No 1 priority is protecting Australians.”

Mr Abbott, who announced in one of his final acts as prime minister that Australia would take 12,000 Syrian refugees, has warned that only those prepared to “join our team” should be allowed­ to settle here.

“The point is that we want to take people who have no realistic prospect of peacefully resettling in these parts of the Middle East,’’ he told the Ten Network’s Bolt Repor­t. “And obviously what we want to do as a general matter of principle is bring people to Australia who are prepared to join our team.”

During his visit to Berlin before arriving for the G20 in Turkey, Mr Turnbull said he would not lecture German Chancellor Angela Merkel over refugee policy — a pointed rejection of the approach taken by Mr Abbott when he urged Europe to adopt Australia’s tough border protection measures, in a speech in London last month.

Mr Abbott warned yesterday of the prospect of terrorists exploiting the flood of asylum-seekers spilling into Europe from the Middle East, reinforcing the need for comprehensive security checks.

Some political figures, including One Nation founder Pauline Hanson and NSW Nationals MP in state parliament Andrew Fraser­, called for Australia to close down its borders following the Paris attacks.

“Message to Malcolm Turnbull: Australia does not need ­Middle Eastern refugees or Islamic boatpeople! Close our borders we have enough anarchists already resident in Australia,’’ Mr Fraser posted on Facebook.