Australia’s Liberal opposition leader Angus Taylor has put forward a new immigration policy built around what it calls “Australian values”.

It is not limited to general tightening measures; it includes specific steps such as introducing “values” as a criterion for visa assessments, expanding visa cancellation powers, prioritising migrants from certain countries and, most notably, calling for a collective reassessment of arrivals from Gaza.

Taylor has also stated that people arriving from Gaza pose a “security risk”.

These are not minor details, but the core of the policy itself and they point to one clear conclusion: Palestinians are being directly targeted.

It is not enough to understand his views as just immigration policy. The idea that Australia needs to be defended from threats transforms what should be a humanitarian issue into a security one.

For instance, a Palestinian who has fled war and lost their home or family is no longer treated as a person in need of protection, but as a potential risk. The Palestinian is not treated as a survivor of war, but as a threat to be contained.

This is not interpretation, but a direct consequence of the policy Taylor is arguing for.

More troubling, his policy does not rely on individual assessment but on collective suspicion. The law assumes that each person should be assessed based on their conduct,........

© Green Left Weekly