- by Peter Farmer
- The Guardian
- Issue #2143
Peter Dutton at the 2018 Sub-Regional Meeting on Counter Terrorism in Indonesia. Photo: Australian Embassy Jakarta – Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
During the election campaign Peter Dutton has told a Sky News reporter that he would be adding antisemitic behaviour to the immigration character test contained in section 501 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth), so that antisemitism will be grounds to deny or revoke the visa of a noncitizen. It would be like similar laws unfolding in the USA right now, although it’s fair to say Dutton has long had an interest in the power to deport people he doesn’t approve of.
During an election campaign press conference in Boorloo-Perth Dutton reconfirmed that he plans to make this amendment relating to antisemitism and migration. He also raised the fact that he would then be reconsidering the thousands of Palestinians in the country on visitor visas, so it’s pretty clear what Dutton means by ‘antisemitism.’
As US state secretary Rubio outlined, the US has revoked or changed the status of hundreds of student visas in response to antisemitism. And high-profile cases, involving international students Mahmoud Khalil and Rumeysa Ozturk, as well as Indian lecturer Badar Khan Suri, having been disappeared and slated for deportation, reveal it was their pro-Palestinian stance that led to this.
Under his regular anti-immigration politicking, Dutton began taking aim at international students in May 2024, calling for a reduction in their numbers. He claimed, without any evidence that reducing international student numbers would help solve the housing crisis. International students bring about $30 billion into the Australian economy every year, and the self-styled party of responsible economic management wants to have less of them.
Dutton likes to brag about deporting 6,000 non-citizens when he was in charge of immigration ten years ago. He was responsible for terror laws which eroded rights for all Australians when he was a member of the Turnbull government.
As Paul Gregoire writes for the Sydney Criminal Lawyers:
“So, as the antisemitism war heats up in the United States, which targets both noncitizens and citizens to produce a number of oppressive outcomes, Australians should ask themselves whether they want to live under such a regime fashioned by a despotic Dutton, or whether they’d prefer a strong crossbench that has the power to prevent Trump pushing Albanese into taking a similar stance.”
