Dave Sharma (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to take note of answers to all coalition questions, and particularly the question asked by Senator Chandler regarding the listing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, IRGC, as a terrorist organisation. On this side we welcome the action that the government has taken to expel Iran's ambassador and other senior diplomatic officials and to announce that it will take steps to list the IRGC as a terrorist organisation because, frankly, the revelations we heard overnight, announced by the director of security and others, about Iran's gross foreign interference in Australia are unacceptable. Here we have a foreign state actor conducting or supporting and instigating attacks on Australian soil against Australian citizens in a way designed to undermine Australian values.

We welcome the steps that have been taken, but I think we do have to legitimately ask the question of why it has taken so long to act. Let me recount the history here. As Senator Chandler said, it's clear from documents released under freedom of information that well over 2½ years ago work was underway examining the possibility of listing the IRGC as a terrorist organisation. That's from January 2023. On 1 February 2023, coalition senators, in a Senate committee report, recommended listing the IRGC as a terrorist organisation. On 14 February 2023, 2 ½ years ago, the then home affairs minister Clare O'Neil, member for Hotham, in a speech to the ANU, went into quite elaborate detail about the foreign interference, as she termed it, being conducted by Iran on Australian soil. So this is not a new phenomenon. There had been people, on this side of the parliament at least, calling for firmer action for some time, and there had been ministers in this government who acknowledged that Iran was taking active steps to intimidate Australian residents and citizens and also to seek to sow social discord.

I want to particularly draw the attention of the chamber to in a debate that was held here on 8 October last year. This is eight months ago, on 8 October 2024. A motion was put, urging the need for the government to act by listing the IRGC as a terrorist organisation and declaring the current Iranian ambassador to Australia persona non grata. This motion was debated in the Senate on 8 October 2024, a little over eight months ago now. What we heard from those opposite, particularly from Senator Ayres, in response to that motion was extraordinary. Senator Ayres, in the debate at that time, accused Senator Chandler, who put forward this motion simply asking the government to do what it announced yesterday it was going to do, of 'the most grossly irresponsible approach on these questions'. He continued:

The fact that she continues in this vein is contemptible.

He described her actions as utterly irresponsible and utterly reckless. He said it was politicking and crass, base partisan politics. He said that her even asking this question undermined the Australian national interest when lives are in the balance.

So we now have someone who is a senior minister in the government, Senator Ayres, that, a little over eight months ago, accused Senator Chandler for having the courage and the foresight to say the government should do what they announced to do yesterday. They accused her of being 'utterly irresponsible', 'contemptible' and engaged in grossly irresponsible behaviour. Well, what do you know? Eight months later the government has done exactly what Senator Chandler urged it to do. It has proceeded to list the IRGC as a terrorist organisation, or has announced its intent to do so, and it has expelled the Iranian ambassador.

I want to highlight one other point. We heard from Senator Wong earlier that this government has taken stronger action against Iran than any previous government. Earlier this year I and a number of others highlighted the actions of a supposedly sanctioned Iranian entity, PressTV, which was designated under our sanctions regime in September 2023, that was operating in flagrant violation of the sanctions regime in February 2025 and operating with impunity as a media organisation in Australia. I'm yet to see any action or evidence of action undertaken against PressTV.

Question agreed to.