Jim Chalmers sidesteps question about ‘Dr Jihad’ Tareq Kamleh and what the government knew

A senior member in Anthony Albanese’s government has kept tight-lipped on what Labor knew and when about the status of an Australian ISIS fighter found alive after being thought dead for almost a decade.

Perth-born paediatrician Tareq Kamleh, dubbed “Dr Jihad”, joined the Islamist militant group at its peak last decade.

His family and authorities believed he was killed in the bloody Raqqa siege in Syria in 2017.

However, The Australian revealed this week that he was among 13 Australian men locked up in an Iraqi prison hoping to be repatriated.

The paper also reported on Thursday that Australian officials, including intelligence services, learnt Kamleh was alive in 2022.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers, who is privy to classified briefings as a National Security Committee member, would neither confirm nor deny when asked about it.

“The government hasn’t and won’t be providing any assistance to any Australian who made the choice to join a terrorist organisation,” he told the ABC’s Radio National.

“We’ve been really clear that for some individuals in this cohort, returning to Australia would mean facing the full force of the laws.”

Asked point blank if the Albanese government knew Kamleh was alive, Mr Chalmers insisted “the only details I have are the details in the story”.

The Australian spoke to a source who claimed to have briefed the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation on Kamleh’s status in 2022 and again last year.

DFAT decided to “stay out of it” and “not get involved”.

Opposition home affairs spokesman Jonathon Duniam said if the Albanese government knew, it “should have informed the public”.

Also speaking to the national broadcaster, he said Kamleh “is a great risk to Australia”.

“So the fact that the government, according to these reports, was aware but they’d not shared that information, nor it appears done anything about it, is concerning,” he said.

Senator Duniam said the Albanese government should have used the information to “prepare for an attempt to return to Australia”, such as using temporary exclusion order to stop Kamleh getting a passport.

“Of course, we know as a citizen, Dr Kamleh has the right to return to Australia,” he said.

“I and my party have grave concerns with that, and I’m sure many Australians do.

“But if the government have sat on their hands and done nothing to prepare for this situation, then that is a concern.”

He added that Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke and Foreign Minister Penny Wong “should be telling us what they knew and when”.