Mr Weeks was held hostage by the Taliban for three years before being freed via a prisoner swap in 2019.

Over the weekend, the Afghan TV network TOLOnews broadcast a short video of Mr Weeks in Kabul praising the Taliban.

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Mr Weeks, who is also known as Jibrael Umar after converting to Islam, said he was in the country to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the Taliban taking power.

During a press conference yesterday, Mr Albanese was asked if Mr Weeks "should be allowed to return to Australia".

"Australian citizens have rights, of course. And they remain. And they're also not ruled out, those Australian rights, at a press conference," Mr Albanese said. "Can I say this, though? The Australian government advice is very clear. People should not travel to Afghanistan, point one.

"Point two is the Taliban regime has seen human rights trashed, particularly for women in Afghanistan. I find it an abhorrent regime, and one that I have no truck with."

Mr Weeks has also appeared in official Taliban photos and videos.

Some of the photos depicted Mr Weeks helping to cut the ribbon to open a new "Al Fath" mosque at the Afghan Ministry of Interior with Taliban acting Interior Minister, Khalifa Sahib Sirajuddin Haqqani.

"I know that prayer brings me great peace, so now we have a place in the Ministry to come and to pray and for this we should be thankful to Allah," Mr Weeks said at the mosque's opening.

Al Fath means "victory" in Arabic and the mosque was built using more than $280,000 of Mr Haqqani's funds as his personal tribute to Allah.

Mr Haqqani has been accused of sheltering Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, who was killed by a US airstrike this month, and he appears on the FBI's most wanted list for terrorism with a $10 million reward for information leading to capture.

Riverina MP Michael McCormack has previously said he was not surprised by Mr Week's decision to return to Afghanistan but he was concerned that his visit might be used by the Taliban for their propaganda.

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