Tony Burke lashes Coalition as MPs vote to debate ISIS brides Bill

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor says the children of women linked to ISIS fighters who are seeking to return to Australia are “undoubtedly filled” with hate as he seeks to urgently criminalise assisting the cohort.

Parliamentarians urgently debated a bid to put on hold government business in the House of Representatives on Tuesday so the Bill, put forward by opposition home affairs spokesman Jonathon Duniam, could be debated.

However, with a majority in parliament, Labor defeated the move 93 to 39. It will now be debated on Thursday.

Mr Taylor, introducing the motion, said the matter “is urgent and must be resolved today”.

Recalling protests in the wake of Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel and subsequent military action, Mr Taylor said “something sinister had taken root in Australia”.

“I say again, we must be clear-eyed about the threats to our nation,” he said.

“Our borders have been open to people who hate our way of life, people who don’t want to change for Australia but who want Australia to change for them.”

Mr Taylor said the “vast majority of Muslims” in Australia “embrace our values and way of life”, but “our nation must confront radical Islamism and political Islam, which are threats to us”.

“It will be amplified with the repatriation of the 34-strong ISIS bride cohort,” he said.

Mr Taylor labelled the group, which includes children, as “ISIS sympathisers”.

“These people chose to abandon Australia, they chose to travel to terrorist hotspots. They chose to support one of the world’s most evil and barbaric death cults.

“They chose to steep their children in a monstrous ideology. They don’t deserve compassion. They deserve condemnation.

“And, they pose an unacceptable risk to Australia because of their terrorist sympathies.

“Their children likewise pose a risk to Australia because of the hate which has been undoubtedly filled and which has undoubtedly filled their minds.

“The 34-strong cohort, if they are allowed into Australia, they will import hate and be incubators.”

Mr Taylor claimed Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke had the power to impose additional temporary exclusion orders, only one of which has been issued to a member of the group on advice from ASIO.

“He does not need to hide behind advice,” Mr Taylor claimed.

“He has chosen to.”

Joint statement urging calm

Seventeen civil society groups on Tuesday urged politicians “on all sides of politics to demonstrate responsible leadership in public discourse”.

The coalition, which included Save The Children, Amnesty International, and faith-based organisations such as Caritas and the National Council of Australian Churches, said they were “deeply concerned” about measures “deny the rights of Australian citizens, and potentially criminalise principled advocacy”.

“Australia is facing a moment of profound challenge, with increasingly polarised debate risking the erosion of a shared space in which diverse views can coexist - a foundation of our democracy,” the statement read.

“In difficult times, the rule of law, presumption of innocence, principles of non-discrimination and human rights norms are not optional - they are essential.”

The groups noted how “deeply affected communities across the country” were in the wake of the Bondi Beach terror attack.

“In moments of grief and fear, it is natural that emotions run high,” the statement read.

“But, these are precisely the moments when careful, responsible leadership matters most, when listening, empathy, and restraint can help bring people together rather than drive them apart.”

US, pilots could be impacted

In a fiery rebuttal, Mr Burke said the Bill would potentially impact Australia’s US allies, airport staff, and pilots.

“Anybody who worked on the flight themselves because there is nothing more direct in assisting someone’s passage than in fact flying them back (to Australia),” he told parliament.

Mr Burke said the legislation “does none of the things that he (Opposition Leader Angus Taylor) publicly said he wants to and all of the things he’s claiming he doesn’t want to do”.

“I’m not sure it’s a problem if the bigger problem is he’s done that inadvertently, or if he knew and he did it anyway. But, by the bewildered look in his face, I think it’s a fair bet, and we can probably always err on the side that the leader of the opposition didn’t have a clue.”

Mr Burke accused the Coalition of “being silent when (ISIS) fighters were returning”.

“Why, somehow the men who went there to kill don’t trouble them. Why, is it that somehow that men that wait to join one of the most bloodthirsty organisations we’ve ever seen, and that they come back to Australia, that they have no problem with that?” he said.

“Scott Morrison denies anyone came under his watch when they didn’t just come under his watch as prime minister, they came under his watch, one of them, under the time that he had sworn himself in as well to be minister for home affairs.”

Thirty-four women and children who were detained in Syria are seeking to return to Australia.

The Albanese government has denied helping the group but said it does have legislative obligations to provide them with passports.

The Coalition is seeking to criminalise anyone assisting the group, who are being helped by prominent western Sydney doctor Jamal Rifi.

Speaking during question time, Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said any Australian who met eligibility requirements could be issued a passport “full stop”.

“A passport can only be refused or canceled on security council grounds if a competent authority, that is a security agency such as ASIO, requests it,” she said.

“As I’ve said repeatedly, no such request was made.”