THE HON ANDREW HASTIE MP
  SHADOW MINISTER FOR HOME AFFAIRS
FEDERAL MEMBER FOR CANNING

STATEMENT
BURKE MUST COME CLEAN ON RECKLESS VISA DECISION

Friday, 22 August 2025

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke must come clean on why he cancelled Israeli MP Simcha Rothman’s visa and whether he consulted the Foreign Minister before doing so.

While Tony Burke insisted that Mr Rothman’s visa was not cancelled due to his comments about the elimination of Hamas – a listed terrorist organisation in Australia – Department of Home Affairs records indicate that this was in fact one of the grounds for cancellation, specifically citing one of Rothman’s quotes regarding the elimination of Hamas as one of the statements that “have been received by members of the Australian community as inflammatory and concerning.”

Either Mr Burke is not across his brief, or he is being purposely deceptive in his language.

Also concerning is that Mr Rothman’s status as a democratically elected member of a friendly government was not a relevant consideration in the decision to cancel his visa, despite this decision having obvious and foreseeable consequences for Australia’s bilateral relationship with Israel.

Did Tony Burke discuss the diplomatic implications with Penny Wong before he cancelled this visa? Did he discuss it with the Prime Minister? Did this decision go to the National Security Committee of Cabinet?

This a reckless Minister using an opaque immigration process to ride roughshod over serious considerations in service of his own political agenda, and Australia deserves better.

[ENDS]