Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. This parliament stands united in support of Ukrainian sovereignty and in opposition to Russia's attempt to intimidate the government and the people of Ukraine. Can the Prime Minister outline the steps he has taken to convey this parliament's support to his Ukrainian counterpart, and can the Prime Minister provide the House with an update on the current situation in Ukraine?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) | Link to this | Hansard source

The Minister for Foreign Affairs has been in regular contact with our counterparts on these issues, and we continue to convey our strong support for the people of Ukraine. We also continue to convey our appreciation to our many partners and allies for the actions that they're taking, working closely with Australia, to send a very clear message to the Russian government that their threats of terrible violence against Ukraine are unacceptable and should be denounced. All efforts should be made to prevent Russia taking that step in committing violence against Ukraine.

Last night I convened the National Security Committee of Cabinet again to receive further updates on these matters, the work we are doing with our partners and the potential response that Australia would engage in, in the event of such violence being committed against Ukraine. We are continuing to work through those options with our partners. In the event that those terrible events take place, then we will move swiftly with our partners along the lines that we were considering and discussing last night not for the first time; we have considered them on many occasions in meeting as the National Security Committee to address those issues.

On 29 November in particular, in communicating directly with Australians who could be affected by this, we warned Australians of the build-up of Russian troops on Ukraine's border. On 18 December and 11 January we urged Australians to reconsider their need to travel to Ukraine due to security concerns. On 24 January we raised our travel advice to its highest level—'do not travel'. On 8 February we again urged Australians to leave immediately. On 13 February we relocated our embassy to Lviv. We will continue to keep the House updated on this very serious situation.

The other point we have been clearly making is that we expect all governments around the world to denounce what is taking place with the threats of violence against Ukraine. I note that the Chinese government has been banding together with the Russian government on this issue, and the Chinese government has not denounced what is occurring in Ukraine. I would urge the Chinese government, and all persons in this place to join with the government in urging the Chinese government, to denounce those actions and to allow an appropriate response through the United Nations rather than resisting that being done through the National Security Committee.