Urgent request for character-grounds visa scrutiny — IDF-linked “peace delegation” travelling to Sydney for the Sydney Marathon (30 August)

The Hon Tony Burke MP
Minister for Immigration and Citizenship
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600

By email: Tony.Burke.MP@aph.gov.au

Dear Minister Burke,

I am writing to demand that your Department urgently assess, under section 501 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth), the visa status of the group of up to 40 current and former Israel Defence Forces (IDF) soldiers and associates reported to be travelling to Australia to take part in the Sydney Marathon on 30 August. The trip is reportedly sponsored by the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) and the Zionist Council of NSW, and is being promoted on the Zionist Council of NSW’s Facebook page as a “peace delegation”, with public events planned across the marathon weekend for the community to meet delegation members.

Section 501(6)(c)(iii) of the Migration Act makes clear that a person fails the character test where, having regard to their past and present conduct, there is reason to conclude they have been involved in “the crime of genocide, a crime against humanity, a war crime, a crime involving torture or slavery or a crime that is otherwise of serious international concern” — and, critically, this applies whether or not the person has been convicted of an offence constituted by that conduct. This is not a hypothetical concern. Chris Sidoti, the Australian barrister and UN Human Rights Council-appointed investigator, has publicly called for Israeli military personnel who served in Gaza to be interrogated over suspected war crimes. Given the scale, duration and documented conduct of the IDF’s operations in Gaza, any current or former IDF member seeking entry to Australia should be subject to genuine character scrutiny before a visa is granted or allowed to stand, not waved through as a marketing exercise for a “peace delegation”.

I note that section 501(6) does not require a prior conviction, and that section 501(3A) also permits mandatory cancellation in defined circumstances, while section 501(2) preserves the Minister’s discretion to refuse or cancel where a person does not satisfy the decision-maker that they pass the character test. Given the numbers involved and the public, organised nature of this visit, I do not accept that individual character assessment is impractical.

I therefore ask you to confirm:

1. Whether the Department has been notified of, or has itself identified, this delegation and its membership prior to their arrival;
2. Whether each member’s visa application has been or will be individually assessed against the section 501(6) character test, having specific regard to their IDF service history and any deployment to Gaza;
3. What steps the Department will take, consistent with section 501, to refuse or cancel the visas of any individual reasonably suspected of involvement in conduct amounting to a war crime or crime against humanity, irrespective of whether a conviction has been recorded anywhere; and
4. Whether sponsoring organisations such as AIJAC and the Zionist Council of NSW have provided the Department with any information relevant to this assessment.

Australians rightly expect that a person’s ability to enter this country is not determined by the standing of the organisation sponsoring their visit, but by whether they meet the character requirements Parliament has set down. I look forward to your response and to confirmation that this matter is being treated with the seriousness the character test provisions demand.

Yours sincerely,

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