Some of the women who joined conflicts in Iraq and Syria pose just as much risk to Australians as male foreign fighters if they're allowed back, Peter Dutton has warned.
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The home affairs minister insists a new crackdown on foreign fighters includes appropriate checks and balances.
Legislation aimed at preventing extremists from returning to Australia for up to two years was being debated in the Senate on Wednesday night, after passing the lower house on Tuesday.
Authorities believe about 230 Australians joined the conflict in Syria and Iraq, of whom about 100 were killed and 40 have returned.
It's been reported more than half of those Australians left in the Middle East are women and children.
Mr Dutton said people had to be realistic about who would be coming back.
"The advice to me is that some of these women are as bad as any of the men that we've seen," he told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.
"There are some women who have been dragged by their husbands into the Middle East in horrific circumstances and there are others who are willing participants and are an equal threat to Australians."
He had sympathy for those trying to repatriate young children, many of whom have been born in the conflict zone, but said there were questions around their citizenship and backgrounds.
"If you've got children of 13, 14, 15 years of age, and through their formative years they've been watching mum or dad or others around them involved in the fights to kill people in the Middle East, that is a very serious issue for us to deal with."
The new temporary exclusion orders would allow the government to develop a plan with foreign fighters to manage their return, including where they would live and work, in conjunction with local Islamic communities, de-radicalisation programs and family services authorities.
Labor will support the bill, despite being unhappy that the minister - rather than a judge - will make the exclusion orders.
Mr Dutton argues he needs to be able to respond quickly to security threats.
Under the legislation, each decision would be reviewed by a retired judge or senior member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
People could also appeal the decisions to the Federal Court, before taking their cases to the High Court.
Mr Dutton likened the proposed powers to foreign ministers making decisions on passport cancellations.
Parliament's powerful intelligence and security committee wanted the exclusion orders to be made by a judge, but the government rejected its recommendation.
Mr Dutton said he was not going to tolerate national security laws being "watered down".
Labor's home affairs spokeswoman Kristina Keneally accused the coalition of breaching a long-standing bipartisan approach to national security.
"The government seems intent on blowing up the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security, and setting a new course on managing national security legislation, which is their way or the highway."
Australian Associated Press