Pauline Hanson is trying to muster support in parliament for laws to cancel the passports of Australians who have been charged or convicted of a terrorism offence.
The One Nation leader has written to fellow parliamentarians in what appears to be an attempt to wedge the Coalition on the issue of Islamic State fighters wanting to return home.
According to The Daily Telegraph, last week Hanson wrote to Opposition Leader Angus Taylor offering to vote with the Coalition for tougher counterterrorism laws, but she says she’s yet to receive a reply so has turned to crossbenchers for support on her own bill.
In a letter outlining her proposal, Hanson says the government should have the power to “refuse, cancel or suspend a passport where a person is subject to an exclusion order or has been charged with or convicted of a terrorism offence”.
She’s also called for a person who “arranges the entry of a terrorist fighter” without authority to face up to 10 years in prison.
While the government has consistently said it is not assisting anyone with links to IS to return home, it cannot stop citizens from obtaining passports because they have a legal right to do so.
The opposition has acknowledged this too, while calling for the government to be tougher.
For Hanson’s proposal to become law, it would need the support of Labor in the House of Representatives, which would seem unlikely.