Pressure grows on Anthony Albanese over handling of Palestine visas

Anthony Albanese has no time­frame to determine the long-term status of thousands of Palestinians approved for travel to Australia on visitor visas.

Anthony Albanese in question time on Tuesday. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Anthony Albanese has no time­frame to determine the long-term status of thousands of Palestinians approved for travel to Australia on visitor visas despite a surge in onshore protection visa applications and concerns around security screening.

With the government under pressure over claims that appeals and reinstatements of cancelled Palestinian visas were fast-tracked, The Australian can reveal the Department of Home Affairs made real time decisions allowing or refusing visa holders travelling to Australia.

After the government announced that Palestinians could apply for visitor visas, department officials were forced to scramble in managing an influx of visa holders from a war zone.

In some cases, the department was forced to cancel visas and stop people boarding planes to Australia over concerns about details provided and the need for more personal information.

Of the 43 visas cancelled between October 7 last year and ­August 12, 20 cancellations were revoked following appeals.

The department could not pause a person travelling and had to cancel visas if red flags were raised and further analysis or checks required. The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation was drafted-in only if the department requested higher-level assessments.

Palestinians whose visas were cancelled were sent emails or letters alerting them of the decision and given up to 28 days to appeal. The Albanese government, which opted for a visitor visa class to avoid delays, has approved 2922 visas for holders of Palestinian Authority travel documents, including more than 2560 tourist visas. More than 7100 applications were refused.

The visitor visa allows holders to remain in Australia for up to 12 months. The Australian understands the government is actively considering a plan to provide Palestinians in the country with greater certainty.

Between January and May this year, 416 of the roughly 1300 Palestinians with visas currently in Australia have lodged onshore protection visa applications. The subclass 866 protection visa allows people who arrive in Australia on a valid visa to seek asylum. If approved, they can stay in the country permanently.

The Albanese government, which has not provided a breakdown of how many Palestinians have arrived from Gaza, the West Bank or eligible border regions, is yet to release protection visa claims statistics from June or July.

The Prime Minister has deflected calls from the Greens and crossbenchers to authorise a humanitarian visa class, which typically involves biometric checks, face-to-face interviews and other intelligence screening. Opposition immigration spokesman Dan Tehan said despite the government previously releasing visa refusal and cancellation figures, Mr Albanese would not provide updated numbers in question time on Tuesday.

In February, the department revealed that between October 7 and December 31 last year it refused 160 visitor visa applications lodged by Palestinians.

A total of 150 were refused because they did not “demonstrate a genuine intention to stay temporarily in Australia”.

Mr Albanese on Tuesday accused the Coalition of granting thousands of visitor visas to people from Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. The Labor leader said the government had rejected more than 7000 visa applications and fewer than 1300 Palestinians were in the country. He said security agencies were continuing to do their job as part of an “ongoing process”.

Mr Tehan said “why won’t the Prime Minister answer a straightforward question … what is he hiding?”.

“The Australian people want to know that their government is keeping them safe. – yet the Prime Minister is treating them with ­contempt. This now goes to his character,” Mr Tehan told The Australian.

“We know the government has this information (on cancellations and refusals) because they’ve provided it previously. This is beginning to smell.”

Peter Dutton led Coalition attacks on Mr Albanese, raising questions about security checks and screening processes adopted by other Western nations.