Helen Coonan (NSW, Liberal Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short comment on the ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The coalition today notes the statement by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Hon. Stephen Smith, announcing that Australia has extended bilateral sanctions against Iran in response to Tehran’s continued failure to adhere to United Nations Security Council resolutions. I want to make it clear that the coalition supports the extension of bilateral sanctions. In government we supported the United Nations Security Council resolutions calling for Iran to open its program to inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the IAEA, with the intent of halting what we assessed was a nuclear weapons program.

The international community has sent many unambiguous messages to Iran that it must fulfil its international obligations and to stop uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities. International coordination of responses is vital. Therefore, by meeting the level of European sanctions, Australia is playing its part. Australia should keep up its pressure on Iran over failing to adhere to the UNSC, the United Nations Security Council, resolutions and not agreeing to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s requirements for inspections of all facilities and full clarification of Tehran’s nuclear policy.

The coalition considers that Iran remains committed to its indigenous development of nuclear energy and that its strategy may also include the development of nuclear weapons. Proliferation of nuclear weapons is a grave threat to the stability of world order. Iran’s commitment under its current and, for that matter, its previous leaders to develop nuclear energy and its intent to maintain a weapons option is likely to continue. Iran’s approach to this issue is of course a complex mix of energy needs, statement of sovereignty and national strategic ambition.

We also, I think, need to acknowledge Iran’s right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and its increasing need for energy. However, the coalition draws the government’s attention to the IAEA September report, noting it was monitoring nuclear material under enrichment in Iran but that Iran had not agreed to provide an explanation about studies to weaponise nuclear material. We in the coalition agree with the Director General of the IAEA, Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, that ‘Iran needs to give the agency substantive information to support its statements and provide access to relevant documentation and individuals’ to disprove claims of a weapons program. This was an element of the most recent UN Security Council resolution, No. 1835, of 27 September.

As I said, we oppose proliferation of nuclear weapons. In view of Russia’s opposition to further United Nations sanctions against Iran during the debate over Security Council resolution 1835, we also call on the Rudd Labor government to take up this issue in diplomatic representations with Russia. We urge the Rudd government to take into full consideration the view of the IAEA, as the authorised UN agency treating technical and operational aspects of nuclear issues, that Iran remains committed to enrichment. This is not likely to be reversed, and pursuit of non-proliferation inspections and the verification regime must be part of future international responses to Iran’s activity.

Briefly, in respect of a separate but very important issue, the coalition also strongly condemns the statement made by Iranian President Ahmadinejad in his comments to the UN assembly, calling for the destruction of Israel and questioning the Holocaust. Despite comments made in opposition, the Labor government has now apparently obtained legal advice that initiating international legal action is not likely to be successful. In those circumstances, I do urge the Rudd government to remain vigilant in strongly condemning and standing up against abhorrent anti-Semitic comments whenever they are made.