“The government will develop amendments to the Australian Citizenship Act so that we can revoke or suspend Australian citizenship in the case of dual nationals,” Abbott said in his national security statement.
For individuals involved in terrorism who do not hold dual citizenship, the Australian government seeks to suspend certain privileges, such as the ability to leave or return to Australia, access to welfare payments, and access to consular services.
Last week, Abbot said that 55 of the 57 Australians who had traveled to the Middle East to join the Islamic State militants up to November 2014 had been on welfare payments.
“Australians who take up arms with terrorist groups, especially while Australian military personnel are engaged in Afghanistan and Iraq, have sided against our country and should be treated accordingly," Abbott said Monday.
While Australians are are free to live as they choose, “no one should live in our country while denying our values or rejecting the very idea of a free and open society,” he said.
Abbott’s words came a day after the release of a report on December’s cafe siege in Sydney, in which two hostages and the attacker, a self-proclaimed Islamic cleric, were killed.
The report found that Australia’s national security hotline received 18 calls on the gunman named Man Haron Monis in the days leading up to the attack. While it did not find direct links between the Iranian-born shooter and the Islamic State, Abbott stated during the presentation that Moris should not have been allowed into the country in the first place.
