A desperate Afghan woman has pleaded with Scott Morrison for help to get her family to Australia, as he attended morning Eid prayers in Western Sydney.
A tearful Hijara Taufiq approached the Prime Minister in Parramatta, fearful her family's lives were at risk under the Taliban's rule in Afghanistan, unable to flee because they did not have visas or passports.
"We're bringing thousands and thousands of people from Afghanistan — 16,500 we'll be bringing, and we'll do everything we can," Mr Morrison responded.
He then brought the Liberal's candidate for Parramatta, Maria Kovacic, into the conversation and said she would help push the case.
Others at the event said it was not an isolated case.
"It's the same issue all over with every Afghan in Australia — everybody's concerned about the family, because there is issues of security, there's issues about money, because there's no jobs," local business owner Roya Soltani told SBS News.
"So it's very difficult at the moment.
Last month, a Senate inquiry into Australia's involvement in Afghanistan noted "the tragic situation facing the people of Afghanistan and as the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan continues to worsen".
The inquiry's final report said there were more than 100,000 humanitarian visa applications from Afghan nationals on the Department of Home Affairs' books, but only around 1,000 visas had been granted.
The department told the senate in February it had increased the number of staff "processing the visa caseload" from 19 to 28.
Labor leader Anthony Albanese said delays were a result of the "gutting of the public service" by the Coalition.
"In so many areas, there are just longer, and longer, and longer delays," Mr Albanese said.
"That is one of the reasons why we've said we'd have increased support for the public service."
