MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, Pauline Hanson, the leader of the right-wing party One Nation, asked Lewis about links between the terror threat in the country and refugees of Middle Eastern origin coming to Australia.
"I have absolutely no evidence to suggest there's a connection between refugees and terrorism," Lewis said answering Hanson's question, as quoted by The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper.
The ASIO official added that there was also "no evidence" that children born in Australia to the refugee parents had more chances to be converted to radical Islam than other people.
The issue of terrorism has become topical for many countries amid deadly attacks in recent years. The refugee issue is also on the agenda in recent years, as the hundreds of thousands of people flee their crisis-torn home countries in order to reach stable and wealthy states.