Mr Dutton proclaimed he had stripped Mr Prakash of his Australian citizenship. This was timed to hit the evening news bulletins and drive home the coalition achievements in keeping Australia.
Up until then Mr Prakash was in a Turkish jail and nobody was speaking about him. And then the Mr Dutton statement.
Now its seems Mr Dutton may have been naieve.
Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama insists Australian-born Islamic State member Neil Prakash cannot go to Fiji "because he does not qualify", deepening the stand-off over which country has responsibility for Prakash's citizenship.
Mr Bainimarama's comments come amid a brewing row over Prakash, who has been stripped of his Australian citizenship based on his terrorist activities in the Middle East. He is currently in a Turkish jail facing terrorism charges.
Neil Prakash, who is also known as Abu Khalid al-Cambodi.
Under Australian law, he can only have his citizenship revoked if he holds a second nationality and therefore will not be made stateless.
Mr Bainimarama's comments, reported by the Fiji Sun newspaper, do not make it clear whether he would be barred from entering Fiji because he is not a citizen or simply because he is a terrorist.
AdvertisementThe Fijian leader is also quoted as saying: "At any rate, he is a terrorist and a member of ISIS. We don’t entertain them, nor do we accommodate them."
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton insists the revocation of Prakash’s Australian citizenship is legally sound because he is also a Fijian national, though he has refused to detail the supporting advice from the government’s lawyers.
The decision to strip an Australian ISIS member of his citizenship was thrown in doubt when it was reported Neil Prakash was never a citizen of Fiji.
The stripping of Prakash’s citizenship was thrown into doubt on Tuesday after the director of Fiji’s Immigration Department, Nemani Vuniwaqa, was quoted saying Prakash “has not been or is a Fijian citizen”.
As the Melbourne-born son of a Fijian father and Cambodian mother, Prakash would have had to apply for Fijian citizenship, he said.
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“The department has searched the immigration system and confirms that he has not entered the country nor applied for citizenship since birth,” he said.
Asked about Mr Vuniwaqa’s comments, Mr Dutton said: “We’ve a great deal of respect for the Fijians, but the legal advice to us on the operation of law in relation to Mr Prakash was clear.”
He said the Fijians were advised “some time ago” of the government’s declaration.
But Mr Vuniwaqa has been quoted by the Fiji Sun saying that he has not spoken to the Australian government.
"I’ve not spoken to the Australian Minister for Home Affairs or the Australian government in regards to Neil Prakash," he said.
