Karl Stefanovic has lashed out at Bill Shorten after it was announced that Islamic State brides and their children stranded in Syria will be brought back to Australia.
More than a dozen families in the war torn Middle Eastern country underwent “risk assessments” following a secret ASIO mission in order to bring them home.
The secret mission was conducted at the al-Roj refugee camp in northeast Syria near the Iraqi border where 16 Australian women and 42 children have been for three-and-a-half years since the fall of Islamic State (IS) in 2019.
A furious Karl said that “no way” should the families be brought back to Australia after they willingly joined their husbands in fighting the terrorist group.
He questioned former Labor leader Bill Shorten as to why the wives and their children are being allowed to come back to Australia when the women went willingly.
“I mean a lot of these kids are under six of course and they didn’t have any say in what happened to them, but it is a national security matter and there is probably not much more I can add,” Mr Shorten said.
Karl quizzed Mr Shorten saying that it seemed that he was against the operation to which he quickly disagreed.
“No not at all…I don’t have sympathy for some of those blokes who went over there, no sympathy at all, but if you’re a kid under six let’s not pretend anyone really asked their permission,” Mr Shorten argued.
“I can see both points of view.
“I just want to reassure people it’s about national security first, they’ll be the considerations, a lot of these are kids are under six so I’m not going to pretend you just give up on Australian citizens under six.”
Karl however stood by his decision saying that the families made a decision and it’s not up to Australia to help them.
“I think if you make a decision to go overseas with someone and fight for Islamic State, you’re making the decision as a family, there’s no way in the world you should be allowed to come back here,” he said.
As part of the operation, the women and children will be taken to another third world country in the Middle East before coming back to Australia.
Images: Facebook
This article first appeared on OverSixty.