An Islamic political organisation, which has been heavily criticised by the Prime Minister, has described the actions of Australia and the United States in Iraq as more barbaric than those of Islamic State militants.

A spokesman for Hizb ut-Tahrir – which advocates for a global caliphate or Islamic state which follows sharia law – said US-led missions in Iraq had killed more than a million Iraqis.

“What I’m opposed to is a level of oppression, of barbarity that far exceeds anything ISIS would even imagine doing, and that’s represented in the actions of governments like Australia and its allies like America,” Wassim Doureihi told Sky TV.

“I’m condemning something which is infinitely greater in barbarity than anything ISIS has ever done or could even imagine doing.

“I’m condemning a set of policies that have cost the lives of over a million Iraqis.”

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Hizb ut-Tahrir has been banned in Germany, Russia and several Middle Eastern countries, but operates freely in the United Kingdom and Australia.

Tony Abbott said he was frustrated that current laws did not allow the Government to proscribe the group, but he said it might be banned under laws before Federal Parliament which would make it illegal to promote terrorism.

“We are changing the law that will make it easier to ban organisations like Hizb ut-Tahrir,” Mr Abbott said.

“There is no doubt they are an organisation that campaigns against Australian values, that campaigns against Australian interests. They are a thoroughly objectionable organisation.”

Fight against IS waged for ‘political expediency’

Hizb ut-Tahrir is holding a public lecture in Sydney on Friday, entitled The War To End The Blessed Revolution, which will focus on the West’s role in attacking the “noble Syrian revolution”.

Mr Doureihi said the lecture would explain why the organisation opposed military action in Iraq and Syria.

“The purpose of this lecture is to demonstrate that what Australia will be doing in Iraq and Syria, like its allies America and others – like they did 10 years ago in Iraq – will be absolutely disastrous,” he said.

“And they are not there for humanitarian purposes, they are there for purposes of political expediency.”

Prime Minister Tony Abbott wants to ban groups like Hizb ut-Tahrir from preaching in Australia. Photo: Getty

He said the current mission and the 2003 Iraq War were “state-sponsored terrorism”.

“All of you should be outraged at the killing of innocent lives, but we should apply this argument consistently,” he said.

The lecture prompted Mr Abbott to reveal he was pushing for a “red card” system to stop “hate preachers” coming into the country.

But Hizb ut-Tahrir said the speakers at Friday’s event were all “local”.

Earlier this year, the group was the focus of public outcry over a speech by spokesman Uthman Badar titled Honour Killings Are Morally Justified.

The speech was to have been given at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas held at the Sydney Opera House but was cancelled.