Peter Dutton doubles down on call for Gaza refugee ban amid ...

The Coalition says Gazan refugees should not be given visitor visas until biometric tests, face-to-face interviews and ASIO assessment can be conducted.

The government has accepted almost 3,000 visa applications from Palestinians in Gaza or the West Bank and rejected just over 7,000.

The Coalition is pursuing the matter with a motion in the House of Representatives.

Peter Dutton has repeated his call for a "temporary" ban on accepting Palestinian refugees from Gaza, fuelling government accusations he has made a deliberate "calculation" to divide the community.

The opposition leader called for a ban on Wednesday morning in a Sky News interview at an event to welcome homecoming Olympians in remarks Prime Minister Anthony Albanese suggested were "off the cuff".

The government has granted nearly 3,000 visitor visas to Palestinians leaving either Gaza or the West Bank since the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel, according to figures presented to parliament by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke.

It has rejected more than 7,000 others and only around half of those granted visas have actually arrived, with others unable to leave Gaza, which is now closed completely.

On Thursday, Mr Dutton reaffirmed his position in a heated interview on Nine's Today Show in which he rebuffed accusations he was "racist" or "heartless".

"I just think all the usual political tripe, put it to one side. We have to make decisions, and they can be tough decisions, but the decisions that are in our country's best interests," he said.

"I'm sure the vast majority [of Palestinian refugees] are just innocent people fleeing a war zone, but our country is just safer when we have a proper process.

"If you bring in 100 people, let's say 99 are good, if one person comes in [who supports Hamas], how is that in our country's interests?"

Coalition home affairs spokesperson James Paterson told the ABC's RN Breakfast that those already here should be sent back to Gaza if they supported Hamas in any way, arguing that would amount to a breach of the character requirement for any visa holder.

"If there is any evidence that people have done that … they should be sent home," he said.

The Coalition pursued the issue with a motion in parliament on Thursday morning.

Speaking on that motion, Independent MP Zali Steggall branded Mr Dutton "racist", which she withdrew after Mr Dutton said the suggestion was "offensive and unparliamentary".

In Question Time on Wednesday, Mr Albanese said the screening process for arrivals from Gaza was the same as had been used by the Coalition for those fleeing war zones in Syria and Afghanistan.

But Mr Dutton said that was not true, as the previous Coalition government had staged face-to-face interviews in Northern Iraq for Syrian refugees and had collected biometric data to check people against a US intelligence database.

On Sunday, ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess said biometric checks were of limited use if people fleeing Gaza were not in such a database.

"If they're not in the database, then the biometric testing gives you nothing other than a biometric tag you can use at a later stage," he said.

Mr Dutton said if the US no longer had suitable information for biometric checks, the government should instead use Israeli databases to screen Palestinian applicants.

"None of those checks have been done."

Senator Paterson told RN Breakfast he recognised face-to-face interviews could not be conducted in Gaza given there was no Australian presence on the ground, but said interviews should be arranged elsewhere.

"We want to see the kind of robust in-person interviews and biometric tests that occurred for the Syrian cohort that we proudly brought in for the Afghan cohort and other cohorts like it," he said.

Senator Paterson said face-to-face interviews with biometric testing were one of three conditions that would need to be met for the Coalition to resume support for Gazan refugees to receive visas.

He also said all applicants should be referred to intelligence agency ASIO for assessment and that ASIO should be directed to reject anyone who expressed any form of support for Hamas, a designated terrorist organisation that is the de facto government in Gaza.

"The government needs to reassure us that they won't accept any Hamas supporters into Australia on these visas … They still have not clearly said whether they will or whether they won't."

Minister Burke told the parliament on Wednesday the process for ASIO referral was the same process in place for anyone arriving in the country, where any applicants who appeared on ASIO's "watchlist", updated every 24 hours, would be referred.

On Sunday, Mr Burgess did not indicate how many applicants had been referred to his agency but said ASIO dealt "effectively" to check anyone referred to it.

He also said "rhetorical" support for Hamas may not result in immediate cancellation if that support was linked simply to the cause of Palestinian self-determination.

"It depends … If they're supportive because they want their homeland, [or] if they're giving financial support or material aid. That can be a problem."

Senator Paterson said support for self-determination was "perfectly respectable" but any support for Hamas was not.

"[Hamas] seeks to achieve its political objectives by violent means," he said.

Education Minister Jason Clare on Wednesday invited Peter Dutton to visit his electorate, which was hosting Gazan refugees.

"I've met them, great people … These are people who have had their homes blown up, their schools blown up, their hospital blown up, who have had their kids blown up," he said.

On Thursday, Mr Clare accused Mr Dutton of using an Olympic celebration event to "make it about him".

"This should have been a day when our whole country could come together, and he made it about him. That shows you something about what lies in the heart of Peter Dutton," he said.

Masser Mashni from the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network accused Mr Dutton of "racist" framing. 

"It really is shameful and beneath our alternative prime minister."

Mr Dutton said criticisms of his motivation were "nonsense [and] emotional language that people can use for political purposes. My job is to make sure that our country stays safe".