Opposition home affairs spokesman Jonno Duniam has demanded the government explain why it has only blocked one of the 11 IS brides seeking repatriation to Australia.
The women and 23 children are Australian citizens detained in a Syrian camp after their IS-fighter husbands were imprisoned or killed.
“I would be very interested to know what advice there is on the others, because I think the fact that they’ve all gone to the same place for the same purpose, a declared terrorist hot spot, and supporting the efforts of ISIS, I’m not sure how you can differentiate between them,” Duniam told Channel 7’s Sunrise.
The opposition spokesman for home affairs, Senator Jonno Duniam.Alex Ellinghausen
Asked about the children in the cohort, Duniam said: “It’s a terrible situation, of course, and no one can walk away from that. But the number one job this government has is to minimise the risk to national security.”
Save the Children chief executive Mat Tinkler, who appeared with Duniam on Sunrise, called for the Australian families to be returned and dealt with through the Australian judicial system.
“National security experts have said the best way to treat any risk that these women pose is right here in Australia. We have robust national security systems, a robust judicial system. There’s no prospect that these women will be charged with any offence in Syria,” he said.
“In the meantime, there’s 20 Aussie kids in those camps, and these are, I can tell you – because I’ve been to many of these places – one of the worst places in the world to be a child. Some of these kids have lived their entire lives in these camps – they’ve never seen a tree.”