Australia's Coalition has announced its support for a One Nation bill designed to prevent Australian citizens with links to overseas terrorist groups from re-entering the country. This move comes despite previous commitments from Coalition leaders to oppose Pauline Hanson's One Nation party.
Opposition leader Angus Taylor and Nationals leader Matt Canavan have both indicated their support for the bill, which is set to be introduced to the Senate on Wednesday. Key members of Taylor's frontbench, including shadow foreign minister Ted O’Brien and shadow home affairs minister Jonno Duniam, have offered to collaborate on the legislation.
The proposed bill seeks to facilitate easier cancellation of Australian passports and introduce new penalties for those who assist individuals with terrorist links in returning home. It would also establish a new "foreign terrorist fighter exclusion order" regime, to be imposed by the federal court at the request of the home affairs minister.
However, the Labor government's home affairs minister, Tony Burke, previously stated last month that Hanson's plan "would last about 30 seconds in the high court." Burke has also argued that Australian citizens blocked from returning could pose a greater danger overseas and outside the reach of security agencies.