Dutton steps in to reject terror cell man’s visa

Peter Dutton has intervened to overrule the Administrative Appeals Tribunal over a Palestinian man’s visa.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton. Picture: AAP

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has intervened to overrule the Administrative Appeals Tribunal after it ruled that a Palestinian man once jailed for belonging to a terrorist group and planning to kill people in an attack inside ­Israel was entitled to move to Australia on a partner visa.

The Australian has confirmed through a departmental source that Mr Dutton has cancelled the visa application of a man known in tribunal documents only as Mr Khalil, after deciding that he posed a threat to Australia’s ­national security.

The move to veto the AAT followed a review by the minister of a 116-page tribunal ruling that disputed the fairness of the Israeli justice system and rejected a military court’s finding that the 30-year-old man from the West Bank was part of a terrorist cell.

Yesterday, Mr Dutton attacked the decision of the AAT and accused some of its members of not upholding community standards. He suggested a clean-out of members of the tribunal ­appointed by the former Rudd and Gillard governments.

“Now there are some appointments that were made — and bearing in mind that some of these appointments can be made for seven years — there were ­people appointed under the Rudd and Gillard governments that are coming to the end of their term now, or some that have already come to an end; we have not renewed those appointments and we’ve appointed new people in their place,” Mr Dutton said.

“I think over time you’ll see a change in the approach, but the people who are appointed don’t necessarily have to have a legal background or be a lawyer — it’s not like appointing a judge.

“We need to make sure that the courts uphold, or the AAT ­upholds, the community values.”

The case of Mr Khalil was sent to Mr Dutton’s office by the then Department of Immigration and Border Protection in September last year after the AAT overturned the department’s refusal to grant the man a visa to live in Australia with his Australian wife — whom he married in the Palestinian territories. The couple then had a daughter.

The AAT, while acknowledging that Mr Khalil had an extensive criminal record, ruled against the government’s view that he failed the character test for entry into Australia.

The Australian understands that Mr Dutton informed the department that he was using ministerial discretion and cancelled Mr Khalil’s application for a visa, which had been lodged overseas.

The tribunal came to the conclusion that the man, who had also lied about his criminal record on his visa application, had not engaged in the conduct that the Israeli military court had jailed him for.

The decision handed down on September 6 set aside the Department of Immigration and Border Protection’s original denial of his visa application to live in Australia with his wife and daughter.

The tribunal claimed the child’s welfare outweighed the risk to the community of letting Mr Khalil into the country.

Tribunal deputy president James Constance also rejected the government’s argument that the tribunal had no jurisdiction to examine the circumstances behind the conviction of an applicant — in this case the Israeli legal system.

Mr Khalil had originally been charged with making and planning to plant a bomb in 2006 but agreed to a plea bargain to conspiracy to cause ­intentional death. He was jailed for almost three years.

Mr Dutton’s office would not comment on individual cases.