Peter Khalil (Wills, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Saturday marks one year since the brutal death of Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa 'Jina' Amini in custody. She was killed at the hands of the so-called 'morality police 'of the Iranian theocratic regime, who arrested her for improper veiling. This week a young man, Hamed Bagheri, was killed by gunfire while chanting anti-regime slogans to commemorate the anniversary of Mahsa's death. One year has passed since these uprisings, where over 500 people have been killed and 22,000 have been imprisoned. People have been fighting and dying for their freedom, for their human rights and for democracy, principles that we often take for granted. The brave Iranian people resist against a regime who commits egregious acts of violence and gender based sexual violence.

The Albanese government has condemned the regime's abhorrent human right violations. We are committed to protecting our own Iranian Australian community from attempts of foreign interference by the regime here in Australia. We have already imposed four packages of sanctions, including sanctions on 27 individuals with links to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and 21 entities with links to the IRGC. Yesterday the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Penny Wong, added new financial sanctions and travel bans on individuals who continue to oppress the people. In solidarity with the Iranian Australian community, I say that we stand with the people of Iran in their plight and their fight because we stand for democracy.