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Thenation’s top spy says Palestinians who have expressed rhetorical support forlisted terror group Hamas will not necessarily be blocked from enteringAustralia, as the federal government prepares to announce a new visa pathway tohelp those fleeing the war in Gaza.
ASIOdirector-general Mike Burgess also urged politicians to moderate theirlanguage, warning that inflammatory rhetoric could encourage aggrievedindividuals to turn to violence.
ASIOboss Mike Burgess said inflammatory rhetoric from politicians and other publicfigures could encourage people to turn to violence.
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Burgess,who last week raisedthe national terror threat level from “possible” to “probable”, said thatproviding financial support or material aid to Hamas may be a problem forPalestinians undergoing security checks as part of their visa applicationprocess.
Itis a different matter if people are expressing support for Hamas because they“want their homeland”, he said.
“Ifit’s just rhetorical support, and they don’t have an ideology or support for aviolent extremism ideology, then that’s not a problem,” Burgess told ABC’s Insidersprogram on Sunday.
“Ifthey have a support for that ideology, then that will be a problem.”
Hamas,which has governed Gaza since 2007 and organised the October 7 attacks onIsrael that led to an estimated 1200 deaths, is a listed terror organisation inAustralia.
ASIOconducts security assessments on behalf of the government when assessingpotentially risky visa applications.
Burgess’comments echoed those of former ASIO boss Dennis Richardson, who told this mastheadthat Palestinian refugees who support Hamas should not be automaticallyexcluded from Australia.
“Becauseyou have sympathy with the terrorist group [Hamas] doesn’t mean to say that youwill commit violence against someone,” Richardson said.
Thegovernment is preparing to announce new avenues to permanent residency for 1300Palestinians, some of whom are struggling to make ends meet as their temporaryvisas block them from work and social security.
TheCoalition has accused the government of not applying tough enough tests tothose fleeing the war in Gaza, suggesting that sympathy for Hamas should rulepeople out of receiving an Australian visa.
“Howcan they possibly assure themselves there is not one Hamas supporter among them?”Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson saidin February of Palestinians fleeing to Australia from Gaza.
OppositionLeader Peter Dutton last week said that “you can’t be taking people out of awar zone” and insisted that Palestinian visa applicants be subject to biometrictesting.
Burgesssuggested on Sunday that biometric testing of visa applicants would be of noassistance to security agencies unless they were already registered in anAustralian database.
“Thecritical point is: there are security checks,” he said.
“Thereare criteria by which people are referred to my service for review and whenthey are, we deal with that effectively.”
Burgesssaid that “politicians have to be care careful about their robust politicaldebate” in an increasingly febrile and contentious climate.
Burgesssaid it was “unhelpful” for Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce to recently compareballot papers to “bullets” at an anti-wind farm rally, adding that commentsfrom Iran’s ambassador to Australia about wiping Israel off the map were a“classic terrible example of inappropriate, unacceptable language that canactually drive violence in our society”.
