Independent senator David Pocock has called for the new immigration minister to announce an allocation of humanitarian visas for people fleeing Gaza as "an act of real leadership".
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
More than 7000 humanitarian visas were offered people fleeing Afghanistan when the Taliban took over and evacuations were organised within a month, the ACT senator said.
There was no cap for Ukrainians being offered humanitarian visas if they could get to Australia, he said.
"But so far none have been offered to people fleeing Gaza," Senator Pocock told AAP after Tony Burke was sworn into his new portfolio.
Just over 40 Palestinians fleeing Gaza who held tourist visas in Australia had those visas cancelled as of May 28, answers by the Home Affairs Department to Senate committee questions on notice revealed.
The cancellation of 19 had been revoked and 18 reviews were under way, the documents said.
The Refugee Council and Amnesty International have raised concerns about a high number of Palestinians trying to flee Gaza applying for visas being rejected and a lack of humanitarian visas in recent months.
Despite thousands of visas being offered to Palestinians since the October 7 attack, the humanitarian visa had not been opened for them and they had been directed to apply for visitor visas, according to department officials in February.
The department has been contacted for comment on updated figures.
"People feel like the government is treating Palestinian lives as though they are worth less than Ukrainian or Afghan lives, and that puts a huge strain on social cohesion," Senator Pocock said.
"There has been growing distress about this in the community.
"Australians want to see our government do more to help those escaping the horror of what is happening in Gaza."
Muslim Votes Matters national spokesperson Ghaith Krayem said visa processes "should not be dependent on the position of any single politician" given the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
"The Australian government has fundamentally failed the people of Palestine in its approach to this crisis," he told AAP.
"The real spotlight on Tony Burke in his electorate stems from the government's appalling response to the killing and maiming of around 130,000 Palestinians over the past 10 months.
"This spotlight will remain unless there is significant change in the government's stance and actions towards Palestine."
It follows Labor's NSW and ACT branches putting pressure on the federal government to act on recognising a Palestinian state, passing motions at their respective conferences.
Mr Burke is under pressure in his Western Sydney electorate of Watson as tensions - particularly in Middle Eastern and Islamic communities - boil over at the perceived lack of government action on Gaza and Palestinian recognition.
He holds the seat with a 15 per cent margin and more than half of the primary vote, but said he always treated it as a marginal seat.
"I've lived my whole life in my community. I love my community, and the community knows who I am," he told ABC radio when asked about balancing political discourse between tough on national security and further action over Palestine.
"The national security portfolios, I've been in the broad area before when I was immigration minister, and you need to have strong principles of making sure that you put community safety first, and that's consistent with who I am."
Australian Associated Press
