Raff Ciccone (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Hear, hear. Go the Matildas. I rise today to speak about the conflict in Iran and the Middle East. Amid mixed feelings about the war, many Iranians around the country and those in my home state of Victoria have taken to the streets, celebrating the death of Iran's despotic leader Ali Khamenei and expressing hope that freedom may finally be within reach.

Australia's position could not be clearer. We stand with the people of Iran against the brutal regime. We support the decisive action to ensure that the Islamic regime does not acquire nuclear weapons. Let us be clear about who we are dealing with. The Islamic regime—or the Islamic Republic of Iran—has slaughtered its own citizens, jailed women for showing their hair, executed dissidents and crushed protesters with bullets and prison cells. When brave Iranians rose up, demanding dignity and self-determination, thousands were killed and thousands more were detained.

The world watched a regime turn on its own people. The regime has destabilised its own region for decades, funded armed proxies and exported violence beyond its borders. We have seen its reach here in Australia, with at least two orchestrated attacks on our soil back in 2024—the arson attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne and Lewis' Continental Kitchen in Sydney. In response, Australia expelled Iran's ambassador, strengthened our laws to list the IRGC as a state sponsor of terrorism and imposed targeted sanctions. Since the Second World War, only one government has forced Australia to take extraordinary diplomatic and legislative steps, and that is Iran.

When the United States and Israel act to prevent this regime from acquiring nuclear weapons, we must understand what is at stake. A nuclear armed Islamic Iranian regime would embolden repression at home and aggression abroad and threaten global security. Preventing that outcome is important. Yet we have seen this week from the Australian Greens and prominent voices a rush to condemn Australia for supporting action, claiming international law has been violated. This is the same international law that has allowed Iranian backed terrorism to destabilise not just the region but also the world for over 40 years. This was the same international law that was silent as tens of thousands of civilians were murdered by their own government just a few weeks ago.

The same voices that routinely slam the failures of international law elsewhere in the region are now ignoring its failure of the Iranian people. This is naked hypocrisy that undermines our nation and its values. These voices constantly ignore the horrific nature of the Islamic Iranian regime. They seize every opportunity to criticise our allies rather than confront this reality. Some have even branded the Prime Minister's words as 'political propaganda'. This is an extraordinary claim, as if standing with women beaten in the streets is propaganda, as if opposing the execution of protesters is propaganda, as if resisting nuclear blackmail is propaganda.

If this is the case, then we have lost our moral compass. What is truly political is neutrality in the face of evil. Where were these voices when thousands of Iranians were slaughtered? Where was their outrage when women were dragged from the streets for refusing to cover their hair? Where was their caution when peaceful protesters were executed? This is not principled restraint; it's ideological reflex, choosing slogans over solidarity, comfort over courage and moral vanity over moral clarity. Standing with the Iranian people is not interference; it is solidarity. Of course civilian lives must always be protected, escalation avoided and Australians in the region safeguarded, but none of that alters the fundamental truth: the greatest threat to the Iranian people is not external pressure. It is the Islamic regime that rules them. The US and Israel have made it clear they are not seeking to choose who governs Iran. The Iranian people deserve the opportunity to determine their own future, free from brutality, fear and blackmail, and when the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, 'We unequivocally stand with the Iranian people,' he was right, and this moment is for moral clarity. We stand against the brutal regime; we stand against nuclear proliferation, and we stand with the Iranian people.