Dutton calls for visa cancellations for those convicted of antisemitism

If Peter Dutton is elected prime minister, his Coalition government will expel non-citizens and people who are in Australia on visas if they have committed acts of antisemitism. This new category of the law will be retrospective to October 7, 2023.

Dutton made this bold declaration to resounding applause from the 600 people in attendance at an hour-long discussion at Sydney’s Emanuel Synagogue on Thursday evening.

“When we were in government we cancelled visas, with a particular focus on serious criminals,” Dutton said in a discussion with Gemma Tognini, a columnist with The Australian. The session was one of two held by Emanuel with political candidates last week. On Friday night the synagogue hosted a dinner for the independent member for Wentworth, Allegra Spender.  

“Section 501 of the Migration Act allows us to cancel visas of migrants and non-citizens if they have committed crimes against Australians,” Dutton explained. “Our proposal is to reform the Act to capture people who have committed acts of antisemitism. We shouldn’t be ashamed to say that if you hate our country or hate a segment of our population, I don’t know why we would tolerate your presence.”

Dutton: “The 3000 people we brought in from Gaza without security checks is without precedence in this country’s history. If you bring in people from a war zone controlled by a listed terror organisation and on tourist visas without checks, it’s negligent at best. Before we lifted people out of Syria and Kabul and before we brought in Yazidi people, we spent months getting checks.

“Once somebody comes here on a visa, for example out of Gaza, if they claim protection it takes seven years in the courts before they can appeal a decision to deny them citizenship. My point is that once somebody is here, they’re essentially here to stay, unless there are exceptional circumstances and particularly if it’s not possible to repatriate them. So you need to be certain.”

Asked if  the value of Australian citizenship has been diminished since October 7, Dutton said “we should be proud to be citizens, to be Australians. We need to celebrate the wonderful cohesive society we had until October 7 and must have again. That sense of pride is best achieved by asserting values we adhere to. I worry about what our kids are taught, from preschool to university and in some workplaces and some communities.”

Emphasising that the education system needs to incorporate social cohesion, Dutton said funding should be conditional “on adherence to the law, with consequences for not doing so. People need to know the government has zero tolerance for antisemitism. From the Prime Minister to federal and state police commissioners.

“Right from October 7, it was predictable what would happen, before any retaliatory action by Israel. You could see it escalating. People could lose their lives. That’s confronting, it’s obscene, it hurts me to say it, but if we don’t put deterrence in place, if the law is not enforced and police are told this is a Middle East thing, just step back and no-one will get arrested and people can chant and encampments can go on, it permeates.

“I can’t imagine Julia Gillard or Kevin Rudd or Scott Morrison or Tony Abbott or Bob Hawke or Paul Keating acting this way.

“We’ve driven the debate in relation to laws that would be a deterrence to people aiming to commit acts of antisemitism. We’ve demonstrated genuine support for the Jewish community. I enjoyed the contest of ideas of university education.

“But for hatred to manifest and lecturers to allow the environment we’ve seen on campuses, with Jewish students targeted and vilified, is unacceptable. There are ways to deny funding in order to enforce adherence to standards. We need to enforce laws; that has been part of the frustration in the last 18 months. There are laws regarding the campuses which haven’t been enforced.”

Pointing out that incidents occur in the arts sector “but with lack of consequence”, Tognini said: “We see hand-wringing and admonitions, but that’s where it stops. Is the issue deeper than electoral considerations?”

Dutton: “This is an attack on civilisation. I strongly, strongly believe this is an issue that every Australian needs to deal with. People are having conversations in their households, whether they know somebody from the Jewish community or not. People should know that what’s happened is against our values and who we are as a people.

“The government has 200,000 bureaucrats in Canberra, so they shouldn’t be caught by surprise at revelations regarding where some of our money is given and pleading that they know nothing about it. It doesn’t fly.

“Labor’s Right faction has traditionally balanced the Left, but that hasn’t happened,” he asserted.  Before the last election, “our position on Israel and relations with the US was bipartisan, there was no difference between the major parties. There’s been significant departure from that.”

Referring to UNRWA (the United Nations Relief and Welfare Agency), Dutton said: “we should not be funding terrorist organisations or those which are sympathetic to or affiliated to terrorist organisations”.

Would a Dutton government “declare war on DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion), as has happened in the US? “People say I’m either not Trump enough or too Trump. As Deputy Treasurer under Peter Costello, we would trawl through the budget line by line to tighten it. At a time when the cost of living is off the charts, people expect the government to do this.”

As for DEI itself, “I’ve never believed in discrimination against any person. It’s part of the reason I feel so emotional about what’s happening to your community because I can’t abide racism or discrimination. Whether you’ve been here 60,000 years or six years, we’re all equal Australians, we don’t have classes of citizenship. The focus needs to come back to how businesses can be more productive.”

Citing the last 17 months as a factor in the importance of the election, Dutton closed with an appeal to support Ro Knox in her candidacy for Wentworth, currently held by independent Allegra Spender. “It’s impossible to see the Teals supporting us,” he said.

“Their record is with the Greens. No credible commentator says Anthony Albanese can form a majority government. The only prospect of him forming government is with the Greens and Teals. We have a significant chance of forming majority government and certainly minority government, but only if Ro Knox is part of that.”