Australia news live: Burke defends giving passports to citizens in Syria; Sydney man charged over alleged death threats to federal MP

Home affairs minister says opposition had repatriated Australians from Syria when in government. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastJonno Duniam, the shadow home affairs minister, spoke about the passports this morning as the opposition seeks to hammer the government on the matter. He told Channel Seven’s Sunrise reports those in the group had travel documents was “of incredible concern, I think, to most Australians that these people want to come back to Australia”, adding:And if one person has been hit with a temporary exclusion order for going to this part of world and doing what they’ve done, why is it not the case that the others have not had the same order applied against them?I would be very interested to know what advice there is on the others because I think the fact that they’ve all gone to the same place for the same purpose … I’m not sure how you can differentiate between them.But putting that to one side, if our laws aren’t strong enough to protect us, to prevent people who’ve gone to support Isis from coming back to this country, then the government should look at expanding and strengthening those laws and we stand as an opposition ready to work with them.I think I’m giving the very practical answer that if anyone applies for a passport as a citizen, they are issued with a passport, in the same way that if someone applies for a Medicare card, they get a Medicare card. These are automatic processes done by public servants. Continue reading...