Federal opposition leader Peter Dutton believes there is a significant risk to the Australian public in bringing back Australian women and children from Syria, after he was given a top-secret briefing by security agencies on Tuesday.
The federal government is planning a dangerous repatriation mission for Australian citizens in camps in northern Syria, who have been stuck there since the fall of the Islamic State group in 2019.
Details of the operation are being kept secret, given the perilous nature of the rescue efforts and the ongoing surveillance the individuals will be subjected to if and when they return to Australia.
On Tuesday, Mr Dutton had a briefing with Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) director-general Mike Burgess.
"I'm not going to go into the detail of what he's provided to me," he told reporters in Brisbane.
"I must say that I am more strongly of the view now that there is a very significant risk in bringing some of these people to our country that can't be mitigated, frankly — not to the level that we would require to keep Australians safe.
"And I think the government really needs to explain properly what it is they're proposing here."
It is believed there are about 20 women and 40 children held in detention camps in Syria.
It is a situation Mr Dutton said "pained him greatly", particularly with regards to children born in the region to Australian parents who had travelled there to join the Islamic State group.
"But where we've got young males, potentially of fighting age, who have been indoctrinated over the course of the last decade or so in some instances, where they've been living for years now in a camp socialising with people who have either committed terrorist attacks or who have been planning terrorist attacks, that we need to take it very seriously," he said.
"I accept the advice from the director-general of ASIO in terms of mitigations, and the advice, no doubt, that they're providing to government.
"But based on my own experience and knowledge of these matters, and understanding now what it is that the government is proposing, I have grave concerns about national security."
Aid organisations, including Save the Children, have repeatedly raised serious concerns about the physical and mental health of people stuck in the camps.
Other countries — including France, Germany, Sweden and The Netherlands — had already repatriated dozens of women and children from Syria.
In April, a United Nations investigation criticised the former Coalition Government for failing to act.
Earlier in the week, Mr Dutton said there would have to be a significant financial investment in agencies such as ASIO and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) to monitor people once they return.
"These decisions are informed by national security advice," Finance Minister Katy Gallagher told the ABC.
"We will take that advice at the appropriate time."
Mr Dutton took a swipe at the Prime Minister for not taking questions on the matter, since it was revealed over the weekend.
"He was on FM radio this morning talking about Botox, but doesn't provide any detail about what it is they're talking about in their proposal to bring back women and children from Syria," he said.
