Dutton wrongly says Labor is fast-tracking citizenship for Gazans to win votes

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has accused Labor of fast-tracking Australian citizenship for people who fled Gaza to win votes in marginal seats at the upcoming election, even though nobody who has fled the war-torn strip since 2023 is eligible for citizenship.

Dutton made the series of unfounded claims about Gazan visa holders at a Sky News summit on antisemitism on Thursday, following reports the government planned to grant 12,500 people citizenship in a series of 25 ceremonies that the Home Affairs Department will hold across Australia by March 4.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

In an interview with Sky host Sharri Markson, which was broadcast live, Dutton suggested the Labor government was “giving a nod and a wink to a particular part of society” by speeding through new citizens who could swing the election result in marginal seats contested by the Greens.

“Let’s be frank about the motivation,” Dutton said. “Why would you bring people in from a war zone, without the requisite checks on a tourist visa, without precedent? Why would you do that?

“And, knowing that it’s territory controlled by a listed terrorist organisation, why would you expressly push people through the process to receive citizenship in advance of an election, which is pending?”

A Home Affairs spokesperson said applicants must be lawful residents of Australia for four years before they could apply for Australian citizenship, precluding any people who arrived in the country later than 2020, including the Gazans who arrived after October 2023.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke labelled Dutton’s comments “outrageous” while Rasha Abbas, who directs the agency assisting Palestinians fleeing the war, said just one family from Gaza had been given permanent visas on serious humanitarian grounds, but not offered citizenship. The rest are on temporary visas.

“This is not true. It’s all untruth,” Abbas said of Dutton’s claims. “There are laws around these things. There has been no citizenship granted to any of the Palestinians. There has been no change to the citizenship process. There is no bypassing of any security checks, they are done multiple times. Why are we singling out Palestinians?”

Home Affairs sources said no Palestinians had been granted citizenship in the cohort of 12,500. The dominant nationalities were Indians, followed by New Zealanders.

Home Affairs said the department-held events were intended to supplement ceremonies in council areas where there were large numbers of approved applicants, to help clear citizenship backlogs.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

But Dutton said it was “quite remarkable” with an election coming and implied the government had sidestepped proper security processes.

“I just question whether there has been any slackening of the process, whether there has been any compromise on the security checks, and whether it’s in our country’s best interests for people to receive citizenship before the proper security checks have been undertaken,” he said.

Markson asked Dutton: “So you do hold serious concerns that the Albanese government is fast-tracking citizenship for a particular cohort?”

“Yes,” Dutton replied. “We’d heard this, and the Daily Tele has broken that story today.”

While The Daily Telegraph on Thursday reported that Home Affairs was hosting large citizenship ceremonies, it made no claims about any groups being fast-tracked.

Dutton then claimed that people from Gaza had been sped through the citizenship process. “There needs to be transparency, if the government is giving a nod and a wink to a particular part of society,” he said.

“They’re obsessed with the Green vote and they’re worried about losing seats. Without being political about it, but let’s be frank about the motivation.”

He questioned why the government would fast-track citizenship for people from a place controlled by a listed terrorist organisation before saying that “a couple hundred votes can swing an outcome, and will in the coming election”.

“There will be a number of seats that are very tight, and that’s not a political statement, it’s a statement of fact. I think they’re reasonable questions for Minister Burke and the prime minister to answer,” Dutton said.

Burke said anyone who had satisfied their citizenship requirements should be able to pledge their commitment to Australia as soon as possible.

“It’s outrageous to suggest that people who have been fully processed and passed every check under law should be prevented from making their pledge of life-long commitment to our country,” he said.

“What sort of person wants to be in charge of Australia but doesn’t want people to take their pledge of commitment to Australia?”

Dutton’s office did not respond to this masthead’s request for comment or evidence to support his claims.

The Sky News summit to wrestle with rising antisemitism was also attended by Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, NSW Premier Chris Minns and former prime minister John Howard. Dreyfus, in his speech, warned against politicising the issue.

“Antisemitism cannot – must not – be weaponised in the pursuit of votes,” he said.

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