Two folders home affairs minister Peter Dutton claimed in parliament had "confidential" information on Labor MPs Tony Burke and Chris Bowen did not contain any files provided to the minister by his own department, a freedom of information request has revealed.



In early September Dutton was under pressure to disclose the full details over his decisions in 2015 to grant tourist visas to two women who had been refused by his department over concerns they were going to work as au pairs while in Australia.

Dutton, in response, walked in to Question Time with two large folders with "Tony Burke" and "Chris Bowen" written on them, seemingly suggesting he had files on the two MPs, related to visa approvals, when they were the minister for immigration in the previous Labor government.