Government Defends Assistance to ISIS-Affiliated Returnees as Opposition Demands Transparency on National Security
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The Australian government faced intense scrutiny Thursday over assistance provided to individuals returning from ISIS-controlled territories, with Opposition Leader Sussan Ley accusing Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of misleading Parliament about support given to so-called “ISIS brides” based on revelations from Senate estimates hearings.
Ley confronted the Prime Minister with apparent contradictions, noting that in September Albanese repeatedly stated “the Australian government is not providing assistance to this cohort.” However, evidence at Senate estimates confirmed the government assisted with medical interviews, DNA tests for children, citizenship by descent claims, and passports.
Ley demanded: “Why did the Prime Minister tell Australians one thing while doing the exact opposite?”
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Government’s Legal Defense
Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke, representing the Labor government from the Watson electorate, responded directly, stating he was “glad that the Leader of the Opposition has raised this to be able to deal with it directly and personally after some of the claims that were made by Senator Paterson in Senate estimates yesterday.”
Burke explained that everything described as assistance by the Opposition “would have been an offence for the government to not do.” Under the Citizenship Act, once someone applies for citizenship, there exists “an obligation to make a decision according to law,” Burke stated.
Similarly, under passport laws, “if someone is eligible for a passport and applies to one of our embassies, there is an obligation for them to be provided with” one, the Minister explained.
Burke emphasized: “These individuals received what they were entitled to by law, no more and no less.”
Comparing Governments
The Home Affairs Minister drew comparisons to the previous Coalition government’s handling of returnees, noting “a much larger number of them returned under those opposite.”
Burke provided examples from the Coalition era: “When those returned under the previous government who had fought for ISIL, they came back and no support was given to them by the coalition. When some of them had provided support to ISIL, no support was given to them.”
He continued: “When some had joined other Islamic extremist groups in the words of those opposite in a question they answered about those who returned to them, no support was given to them.” Burke concluded: “And when people recently returned to Australia, no support was given to them.”
Procedural Challenges
The Opposition attempted multiple points of order during Burke’s response, with Leader of the Opposition Ley arguing the Minister was not addressing her specific question about the Prime Minister’s statements versus actual government actions.
Speaker Milton Dick ruled the Minister was being “directly relevant” as he addressed assistance—a key component of the question—and was entitled under standing orders to provide comparisons with previous government actions.
Future Returns
Later in Question Time, Ley pressed further, citing Australian Federal Police evidence at Senate estimates “that more ISIS brides would be arriving in Australia over the next 12 months.”
She demanded the government “be honest this time and tell the Australian people how many more ISIS brides will return, when they will arrive and where they will live.”
Prime Minister Albanese responded briefly: “The assumptions in the question are wrong because the assumptions suggest that they’re coming back to Australia with our support, which they are not.”
AFP Commissioner’s Evidence
The Prime Minister later quoted AFP Commissioner Chrissie Barrett’s Senate estimates testimony: “I do want to provide assurance and confidence that the AFP remains appropriately prepared and positioned to respond to any self-managed returns from the internally displaced persons camps alongside our Commonwealth and state partners.”
Barrett stated: “We are always positioned and prepared for any self-managed returns from that region. Operation Houth, for example, has been an ongoing investigation since 2014.”
Albanese emphasized that Operation Houth was established in 2014 “under the Abbott government, not under this government, because Australians have rights.”
Legal Obligations
The Prime Minister clarified the core issue: “The question is whether we are repatriating people. The answer to that is no. The question, if the question is do Australian citizens have rights, the answer to that is of course, yes.”
Albanese quoted Commissioner Barrett emphasizing preparedness: “We have a number of ongoing investigations and matters that relate to Australians who have traveled overseas. I want to provide confidence and assurance that we remain prepared and positioned for any self-managed returns alongside our partner agencies.”
The Prime Minister concluded: “We on this side of the House have confidence in the Australian Federal Police. I’d suggest that every member of this Parliament should do so as well and should not try to mislead people and play politics with something such as this.”
The controversy highlights ongoing tensions between national security concerns and legal obligations to Australian citizens, even those who traveled to conflict zones. The government maintains it follows legal requirements while not actively facilitating returns, whereas the Opposition demands greater transparency about potential security risks.
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