KEY POINTS
- Opposition leader Peter Dutton has called for refugees from war-torn Gaza to be banned from entering Australia.
- His remarks have been criticised by government and crossbench MPs.
- Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young interjected as Nationals leader David Littleproud defended Dutton's call.
National Party leader David Littleproud was caught off-guard when Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young interjected as he defended the Opposition's call to ban Palestinian refugees.
Littleproud was on Thursday morning backing recent remarks by Opposition leader Peter Dutton, who has called for an entry ban on Palestinians fleeing war-torn Gaza and claimed they are a national security risk.
He said the Coalition’s position was a "precautionary" one and criticised those who labelled Dutton’s remarks "racist."
"We are not saying we want to stop those of the Islamic faith coming to the country," he said.
"We are simply saying: let’s take a deep breath on those who are coming to a war zone where we cannot get a lens on their backgrounds. That is about keeping Australians safe."
But as he was speaking, Hanson-Young walked down the corridor behind him and, as she passed, said: "Why don’t you say something about the children that are being slaughtered?"
The moment was caught on video.
An attack led by Hamas — the political and military group that rules Gaza — on Israeli communities around the Gaza Strip on 7 October killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, with more than 250 taken hostage to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
In response, Israeli forces have razed much of Gaza, displaced most of the population, and killed around 40,000 people, most of them civilians, according to Gaza's health ministry.
Gaza's health ministry estimates more than 14,000 during while suggests up to 21,000 others are missing.
'Stop being racist': Peter Dutton's remarks spark criticism
The interjection came amid heated debate over Dutton's comments made during a Sky News interview on Wednesday, in which he said people leaving war-torn Gaza should not be able to enter Australia.
"I don't think people should be coming in from that war zone at all at the moment," Dutton told Sky News on Wednesday. "It's not prudent to do so and I think it puts our national security at risk."
Since the government has rejected 7,111 visa applications from Palestinians and granted 2,922, as of 12 August. About 1,300 of those with approved visas have resettled in Australia.
Dutton made the comments without consulting Coalition frontbench members as a captain's call, which is understood to have surprised Opposition MPs.
Education Minister Jason Clare told reporters on Thursday that Dutton wanted to "divide the country", while independent MP Zali Steggall said his comments incited community fear.
"These are families that you are seeking to paint that somehow they are all terrorists, that they should all be mistrusted and not worthy, that they are not worthy of humanitarian aid," Steggall told parliament on Thursday.
"Stop being racist."
It came after Dutton doubled down and said his position was not discriminatory.
"My job is to protect all Australians and it's exactly what I'm doing," he told the Nine Network on Thursday morning.
"I'm not discriminating on any basis. Happy to see people brought in from the Middle East, if they've been properly checked."
Hanson-Young said Dutton had not "shown any compassion for the people suffering in Gaza".
"I haven't heard him utter a word of concern for the slaughter of tens of thousands of children and the tens of thousands more that are starving in Gaza, but he wants to whip up fear," she told ABC's Radio National on Thursday.
"And it's not just dog-whistling politics. He's blowing the fog horn."
Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson said Palestinians should still be able to come to Australia, as long as security checks were carried out.
"The whole purpose of doing security checks is to weed out the undeserving and let in the deserving, and that's why everyone agrees we have to have it, and that's why it needs to be robust to make sure that we're making those right choices," he told ABC Radio.
With reporting by the Australian Associated Press and the Reuters news agency.
