At least 915 Palestinians have arrived by plane and claimed asylum since Labor began issuing
visitor visas to Palestinians after October 7 last year.
The Government says at least 1300 Palestinians have arrived in Australia under its visitor visa
scheme, which suggests at least 70 per cent of that cohort has now claimed asylum.
Almost 50,000 asylum seekers have arrived by plane since Labor were elected, according to the
latest data, as 2255 asylum claims were lodged last month.
The monthly government report on asylum claims did not record Palestine as a top 20 source
country until January, and since then Palestinian asylum claims have numbered: 33 in January; 88
in February; 110 in March; 66 in April; 119 in May; 157 in June; 176 in July and 166 in August.
The Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic told the media last month that Labor issued visitor
visas because they were “faster to process” than refugee visas and the government wanted to
“get people out as quickly as you can”.
Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Dan Tehan said there were now 85,687 failed
asylum seekers in Australia awaiting deportation, while just 19 left the country last month.
“Labor cannot be trusted when it comes to immigration or border security,” Mr Tehan said.
“Any competent government should have anticipated that people fleeing a terrorist-controlled
war zone would seek asylum in Australia. Labor has issued almost 3000 visitor visas to
Palestinians but had no plan for what happens after they arrived in Australia.
“Can the Prime Minister guarantee that all Palestinians who arrived on tourist visas and claimed
asylum have been through the proper security checks?”
“Remember what Labor’s Immigration spokeswoman Kristina Keneally said about asylum seekers
arriving by plane when Labor was in opposition:
“If a government is serious about stopping a flow of people coming to Australia, then it would
be doing something about airplane arrivals.
“Labor’s failure is damned by their own words.”
