Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has continued to back ASIO and Australia’s security measures as a political bunfight over refugees fleeing to Australia from ravaged Gaza continues.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton this week called for a ban on refugees from Gaza, claiming adequate vetting was not taking place.
“Peter Dutton plays politics at every opportunity,” Albanese said, during a visit to the Ferragosto festival of Italian culture in Sydney’s inner west today.
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“It’s important that we value our multiculturalism, we celebrate it, and we cherish it.”
Australia has granted more than 2600 visas to Palestinians, and rejected a further 4600, since Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel, according to Senate Estimates from May.
Of those, only about 1300 have arrived and remain in Australia.
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And with the Gaza borders closed, it’s unlikely many more will turn up in the near future.
The opposition is calling for checks on those refugees already here, along with compulsory face to face interviews with future applicants.
“We’re prepared to show that compassion but we want to make sure when they come here they can continue to enjoy that lifestyle we have,” Nationals leader David Littleproud said.
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No specific offences or crimes committed by Gaza refugees have been mentioned.
But ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess’s declaration that “rhetorical” support for Hamas would not be an automatic bar to entry to Australia has been seized upon as a political talking point.
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