Albo’s visa fast track failure as he’s blasted for putting Australia at risk with thousands of tourist passes for Gazan refugees

Anthony Albanese refuses to say whether 2,900 visas granted to Palestinian refugees have been revoked, as he comes under fire for speeding up the process.

The prime minister faced criticism during Question Time on Tuesday over his government’s decision to issue thousands of tourist visas to people fleeing war-torn Gaza since the Hamas attacks on October 7.

This comes after Opposition Leader Peter Dutton last week called for Gazans to be banned from entering Australia over fears they were supporting the Palestinian terror group.

According to The Australian, 43 visas were revoked and 20 of those were returned after appeal.

Dan Tehan, the opposition immigration spokesman, repeatedly asked the same question: “How many of the 2,900 visas from Gaza have been revoked?”

But Albanese continually dodged the question, insisting that the Labour Party was guided by security services.

He also said that over the years a number of visas have been issued to refugees fleeing conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, despite the fact that these countries are also under the control of terrorist groups.

“We are accompanied by our security services at every step,” the prime minister stressed.

‘What our agencies do is constantly investigate issues. It doesn’t stop when someone gets a visa.

When it comes to issuing a visa, it is done in the same way [as under the Coalition government].

“Our security services are involved, the same security standards.”

The Labor Party has approved 2,922 visas for Palestinians fleeing the war, including more than 2,500 tourist visas.

Many have applied for asylum, which means they are allowed to remain in Australia until a decision is made on their application.

The coalition focused on visitor visas, which they said were of particular concern because they do not require the same security checks as asylum seekers fleeing other war-torn countries.