One Nation Seeks Support for Bill to Block ISIS-Linked Australians Returning

Pauline Hanson is seeking crossbench support for a bill that would revoke the passports of ISIS terrorists to stop them returning to Australia.

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson speaks at the National Press Club in Canberra, Australia on June 17, 2026. Hilary Wardhaugh/Getty Images

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has written to all cross-bench parliamentarians seeking support for a bill that would revoke the passports of Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists and their supporters, preventing their return to Australia.

Hanson developed the Protecting Australians from Foreign Terrorist Fighters Bill 2026 after approaching Coalition leader Angus Taylor to offer support for stronger laws.

Her correspondence to Taylor went unanswered. The Epoch Times contacted Taylor’s office for comment.

The bill comes as reports emerge that 13 ISIS-linked Australian men, including South Australian doctor Tareq Kamleh, dubbed “Dr. Jihad,” may be seeking to return to Australia.

Kamleh, long presumed killed in Syria nearly a decade ago, is understood to be alive and held in an Iraqi prison.

In a statement last week, Hanson said One Nation did not want ISIS terrorists or their supporters back in Australia.

“Since Labor came to government in 2022, they’ve assisted 17 ISIS brides and 13 of their children to come back to Australia,” she said.

“‘Dr. Jihad’ … is alive, imprisoned in an Iraqi jail and one of 13 Australian men linked to the terror group hoping to be released and returned home.

“At what point will Anthony Albanese and Tony Burke put the safety of Australians first over importing more radical Islam back into Australia?”

In her letter to MPs, Hanson also proposed that anyone who arranges the unauthorised return of a terrorist fighter face up to 10 years in jail.

While existing legislation dictates that ISIS members and associates with Australian citizenship should be granted a right of return, that legislation remains to be challenged.

Legal experts say this could be tested through a High Court challenge or by amending the law in parliament.

The Coalition has previously signalled a tougher stance. In February, Opposition Leader Taylor said his party would “shut the door” on returning ISIS sympathisers by criminalising assistance for the return of terror-linked individuals without given government approval.

Under that proposal, repatriation could still continue with the permission of the foreign or home affairs ministers.

Earlier efforts to strip citizenship from dual nationals involved in terrorism were limited by the High Court. Legislation introduced by the Coalition in 2020 allowing the Home Affairs Minister to cancel citizenship was ruled partly unconstitutional in 2022 and 2023.

Parliament later amended the law so that only a court can order the cessation of citizenship, and only for dual nationals convicted of specified serious national security or terrorism offences.

Labor Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has maintained that his government is not assisting ISIS linked individuals to return to Australia, and that anyone who has committed offences will face the law. The government has not moved to amend the existing right-of-return legislation.