The decision comes in the wake of newly-elected South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's apparent plan to appropriate white-owned South African farms and redistribute the land to black South Africans. Ramaphosa's plan would exclude white South Africans from receiving any compensation for their appropriated land.
In addition, Sky News Australia reported that white South Africans are being murdered at a rate of more than one per week, according to News Corp Australia chief Paul Toohey, who travelled to South Africa to investigate. In the wake of such claims, Dutton suggested to the media that a humanitarian visa may be what is needed.
Australia's home affairs page states a total of 13,765 visas were granted under the annual Humanitarian Program from 2015 to 2016. Under the current system, a refugee would first need to be referred by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to the Australian government.