Coalition wedges ALP on citizenship cessation

Labor has rejected Coalition calls to amend redrafted citizenship laws applying to convicted dual national terrorists to include child sex offenders and people who promote genocide.

Opposition immi­gration spokesman Dan Tehan. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

The Albanese government has rejected calls from the Coalition to amend redrafted citizenship cessation laws applying to convicted dual national terrorists to include child sex offenders and people who promote genocide.

The Australian understands that the Coalition was demanding the laws be expanded to include a range of child sex offences and other crimes currently not covered under Labor’s bill.

However, the government rejected the amendments before the bill passed through the Senate on Wednesday afternoon.

The opposition has now written to Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil accusing Labor of refusing to include the most “egregious” offences and being disingenuous about keeping ­Australians safe.

The citizenship bill was required as another legislative response to a High Court decision in June that found the existing laws unconstitutional. The government has sought to blame the former Coalition government for the overturning of the laws.

The Albanese government’s bill broadens the serious offences for which a court may make a ­determination of citizenship cessation as part of sentencing to include convictions related to explosives and lethal devices, treason, advocating mutiny, esp­ionage, foreign interference and recruitment, as well as terrorism.

But the government has rejected the Coalition’s amendments to further expand the laws to include a broader range of terrorism offences, urging violence and advocating terrorism or genocide, harming Australians, slavery, child sex offences outside Australia, torture, dangerous weapons, use of a carriage service for child abuse material and use of a carriage service involving sexual activity with, or causing harm to, children under 16.

“These amendments address the Coalition’s position that the bill does not address offences that are so egregious, so antithetical to Australian values that those who engage in them demonstrate a ­rejection of Australia and everything it stands for,” the letter, co-signed by opposition immi­gration spokesman Dan Tehan and opposition legal affairs spokeswoman Michaelia Cash, reads.

“The Coalition believes that those who go overseas to murder Australians are rejecting Australia, and that those who go overseas to rape children are rejecting Australia, and that those who go overseas to engage in slavery and torture are rejecting Australia.

“Pedophiles, murderers, torturers and agitators for genocide do not represent Australian values. We are sure that the Australian public would support our position.”