I’ll kick out any foreigner who commits serious crime, says Peter Dutton

Peter Dutton says no non-citizen who commits a dangerous crime in Australia should be allowed to stay in the country as a matter of principle, arguing they should be deported ‘immediately’.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says any non-citizen who commits a dangerous crime in Australia should be deported ‘immediately’. Picture: NewsWire/Martin Ollman

Peter Dutton says that no non-citizen who commits a dangerous crime in Australia should be ­allowed to stay in the country as a matter of principle, arguing that they should be deported ­“immediately”.

The Opposition Leader told The Weekend Australian there was support for a robust migration program but argued confidence had been dented by the arrival of asylum-seekers in boats in northern Australia and accused the government of “bringing in thousands of people who haven’t been properly checked from a war zone”.

Figures provided by officials at the Department of Home Affairs in budget estimates hearings last week revealed that, since October 7 last year, a total of 2686 visitor visas had been granted to people fleeing Gaza. As of May 28, a total of 1044 people fleeing Gaza had arrived in Australia.

With Labor on Friday releasing Direction 110 to replace the contentious Direction 99 so as to scale back the weight given to the Australian ties of non-citizen criminals facing deportation, Mr Dutton said foreigners who committed dangerous crimes in Australia did not deserve to stay.

“They don’t (deserve to stay) and they should be deported immediately,” he said.

In an interview to mark two years as Opposition Leader, Mr Dutton said there were “millions of people who want to come to our country – be law abiding, help their neighbours, not rob them; ­go to work, not turn up to a Centrelink office”.

“And we shouldn’t be ashamed of saying that we want the best of the million people who want to come here tomorrow to be part of the migration program instead of compromising and keeping people here who, in many cases, have committed multiple crimes against numerous Australian citizen victims,” he said.

While both major parties have promised to reduce the migrant intake, Mr Dutton said it was ­important to orient the program towards areas were jobs were needed – including in the construction sector.

Peter Dutton said it was ­important to orient the program towards areas were jobs were needed – including in the construction sector. Picture: Getty Images

A Coalition government would make judgments about which skills to target in the intake “based on the advice of the time as to the prevailing economic conditions”.

In his budget reply, the Opposition Leader pledged to reduce the permanent migration program by 25 per cent from 185,000 to 140,000 for the first two years before lifting it to 150,000 in year three and 160,000 in year four.

“The housing crisis that Labor has created only continues to compound when you have a deficit in the number of homes being built compared to the numbers of people coming in each year,” Mr Dutton said. However, he said ­ targeting skills in the migration ­intake needed to be accompanied by an effort to select those people who shared Australian values, declaring this to be “central to who I am, and who I was as immigration minister and who I would be as prime minister”.

He said Australia needed to “make sure the people we’re bringing in are contributors to our social fabric, people who are passionate about the advancement of our country and adding to the Australian story, not detracting from it; people who aren’t coming here for welfare but … for an opportunity and an excellent education system for their children and health system for their parents. It’s absolutely essential to make sure that we get the right people, as much as it is the people with the skills.”