Anthony Albanese dodges questions on ISIS brides’ return as police prepare for return

The Prime Minister faces scrutiny over the return of ISIS brides to Australia, as agencies prepare for ‘reintegration’.

Anthony Albanese claims reports about ISIS brides returning to Australia are ‘not accurate’.

Anthony Albanese has continued to evade questions about the ­return of Islamic State brides to ­Australia, while admitting the ­nation’s “security and our intelligence agency … will continue to work to ensure they’re prepared for any Australian citizen who comes home”.

The Prime Minister continued to claim The Australian’s exclusive report that Australian Islamic State brides who have been stranded in northern Syria were set to be returned home before Christmas in a top-secret operation was “not accurate”, despite NSW police confirming discussions about the “repatriation” plan were under way.

Upon the women’s arrival, multiple state and federal government agencies will work together to support and appropriately reintegrate the group into the community, with discussions having taken place in the last fortnight.

NSW Deputy Police Commissioner and veteran NSW counter-terrorism chief Dave Hudson told a police estimates session on Wednesday that he had been advised about the arrival of ISIS brides back into Australia, saying there is “no doubt” state police will have a role in their reintegration into society.

On Thursday during question time, Nationals deputy leader Kevin Hogan asked the prime minister whether he was calling Mr Hudson “a liar”.

Mr Albanese slammed the question as “outrageous”.

“The questions that were asked yesterday went to whether the Australian government was giving support to this cohort,” the Prime Minister said.

“I confirm that the Australian government is not providing assistance to this cohort. Syria is an increasingly unstable region. Our security, as well as our intelligence agency, you would expect, you would expect will continue to work to ensure they’re prepared for any Australian citizen who comes home,” he said.

“The Australian government is not providing assistance to this ­cohort,” he repeated.

However, on Wednesday, opposition home affairs spokesman Andrew Hastie had asked if the Prime Minister was “aware of any info that suggests that ISIS brides are seeking to return to Australia” and whether his government was “making preparations to receive them”.

Mr Albanese referred Mr Hastie to his previous answer, which was that the “reports are not ­accurate”.

Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Michaelia Cash accused Labor of hiding behind denials that the federal government was involved in the plan to repatriate the women and children, adding that the Coalition asked 15 questions on the topic in Senate question time.

“The Albanese government is hiding the truth from Australians about ISIS death cult associates returning to Australia,” Senator Cash said.

“Ministers are hiding behind the weak and insipid line that the government is not repatriating the cohort. Australians deserve answers about who is returning to this country and the circumstances under which they are returning after spending years in Syria as ISIS death cult associates.

“Australians should be told exactly what will be done to keep our community safe.”

Mr Hudson said on Wednesday he was working with the commonwealth on the returning of brides and children of foreign fighters. “We are still working through that issue with the Commonwealth,” he said. “The roles have yet to be finalised between what NSW government, including the NSW Police Force, and the commonwealth roles will be,” Mr Hudson said.

“No doubt we will have a role, as will the broader NSW government, as we have done with previous returning brides of foreign fighters and children of such.

“We’ve got some meetings next week in Canberra … where I’ll try and explore that further.”

Victoria police said that the federal government would be responsible for “the assessment of applications for travel documents for Australian citizens seeking to return from any foreign conflict zone”.