Bob Baldwin has questioned why male refugees fleeing war-torn countries don’t stand and fight.
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Speaking in Parliament on Monday night, Mr Baldwin criticised Muslim community leaders for their response to acts of terrorism and said he was concerned some were seeking to prevent the celebration of Christian holidays like Christmas and Easter.
He also questioned why males aged 18 to 45 were fleeing countries like Iraq and Syria.
“I have to ask the question on behalf of my constituents, why are they not staying [and] training to defend their land, their lifestyle [and] their rights,” he said.
Mr Baldwin said if Australia was attacked by a terrorist group like ISIL he would stay to fight and would “expect the same of my sons”.
He said it was a bit rich to expect soldiers from other countries to “lay down their life for you if you are not prepared to stand and fight”.
But Paul Power, the chief executive of the Refugee Council of Australia, said refugee figures suggested many men were staying behind.
“Almost a quarter of the families that have sought refuge outside Syria have a female as their head, suggesting many males have stayed behind to defend their homes and their lives,” he said.
“Many single men are continuing on to Europe in the hope they can send some financial assistance to the family members they leave behind.”
An estimated 220,000 people have been killed in the conflict in Syria since it began four years ago, and Mr Power said for many “staying and fighting is simply not an option”.
“We would like to meet with Mr Baldwin and discuss with him some of the many challenges that those who are in the midst of the conflict face,” he said.
“We have written to him on a number of occasions to offer him briefings and remain hopeful we will have the opportunity to meet him in the near future.”
In Parliament, Mr Baldwin also said tolerance was “a two-way street” and said people who don’t like Australia should “go back from where you came”.
“Stopping the celebration of Christmas and Easter, the two most holy days on our Christian calendar, isn’t tolerance, it’s discrimination,” he said.
Mr Baldwin also said Australia’s Grand Mufti was wrong to respond to the Paris terrorist attacks by calling for a focus on racism, Islamophobia, foreign policies and military intervention.
Mr Baldwin said he was concerned about the vetting process to make sure people seeking refugee status were not “sleepers” seeking to “infiltrate and plan and plot terrorism activities” in Australia, “as was alleged in Paris”.
