Coalition backs One Nation bill to bar Australians with terrorist links from returning home
The Coalition has signalled support for a One Nation migration bill that would seek to prevent Australian citizens with links to overseas terrorist groups from returning home. The move lifts Pauline Hanson's policy proposal into the centre of a national security debate in Canberra. It also creates an unusual alignment between the opposition and One Nation ahead of the bill's introduction to the Senate on Wednesday.
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Opposition leader Angus Taylor and Nationals leader Matt Canavan both indicated they would back the legislation, despite previously vowing to fight Hanson's right-wing party. Senior Coalition figures, including shadow foreign minister Ted O'Brien and shadow home affairs minister Jonno Duniam, have also offered to work with Hanson on the draft. Duniam said the Coalition wanted to "shut the door on terrorists" and suggested the bill should go to a Senate committee so legal experts could test whether it was robust.
The proposed law would make it easier to cancel Australian passports and create new penalties for anyone helping people with links to terrorist groups return to Australia. It would also establish a new "foreign terrorist fighter exclusion order" regime, to be imposed by the federal court at the request of the home affairs minister. The federal government has already used existing exclusion orders to temporarily bar one Australian woman linked to Islamic State from returning, but has said it does not have powers to permanently stop citizens from entering the country.
The issue matters because it sits at the intersection of national security, citizenship rights and constitutional limits on executive power. Home affairs minister Tony Burke has argued that Hanson's plan "would last about 30 seconds in the high court", signalling that any attempt to permanently block citizens from returning would face immediate legal challenge. The Coalition's support is significant because national security has traditionally been one of the Liberal and National parties' strongest political areas.
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The bill also reflects a broader political contest over how Australia should deal with citizens suspected of involvement with extremist groups overseas. Supporters of the proposal argue that the state should be able to stop people who pose a security risk from re-entering the country, while critics are likely to focus on whether the measures would survive judicial scrutiny. The fact that the proposal is being advanced by One Nation, rather than the government, adds to the political sensitivity of the debate.
What remains unclear is whether the bill can progress beyond the Senate, given that it would need Labor's cooperation to reach the House of Representatives. The government has already signalled strong opposition, and the legal basis for any permanent exclusion order remains contested. The next key step is the bill's introduction on Wednesday, followed by any decision on whether it is referred to committee for further scrutiny.
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