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

The story of Iran is not the story of its regime; it is the story of a proud civilisation whose people have endured repression, intimidation and violence for far too long. For years, we have watched Iranian citizens—students, workers, women and young people—risk everything to demand dignity, democracy and the rule of law. Thousands have paid for that courage with imprisonment, thousands more with their lives, and yet their voices have not been silenced.

Here in Australia, members of the Iranian diaspora, many of whom fled persecution themselves, continue to speak for those who cannot safely speak at home. They remind us that the Iranian people are not defined by the Islamic regime that rules them; they are defined by their resilience and their aspirations for freedom. Australia should always be clear about where we stand because we stand with the Iranian people. We stand with those who demand a democracy, and we stand with those who believe that the future of Iran should be determined by the free will of its citizens, not by repression and fear. But, sadly, not everyone participating in this debate seems particularly interested in the Iranian people.

Instead, this week and last, we have seen a very familiar performance by the Australian Greens. Once again, the Greens have rushed to twist this very complex international crisis into yet another argument against AUKUS, against the United States and against the state of Israel. Every global crisis becomes another excuse to attack Australia's alliances, allies and friends. Every conflict becomes another opportunity to rehearse the Greens's ideological hostility towards the United States and Israel, and every piece of misinformation is deployed in service of a conclusion that they have already reached before the facts are even known.

For the Australian Greens, every crisis overseas is just an excuse to attack Australia at home, and what is striking is not just what the Greens say; it is what they leave out. They speak loudly about the actions of democratic nations, but they remain remarkably quiet about the conduct of the Islamic regime in Iran itself—a regime that has jailed protesters, suppresses women's rights and violently represses its own people. They are quick to criticise Australia's friends and allies but strangely reluctant to confront the authoritarian regime that the Iranian people themselves have been protesting against.

I have also heard directly from members of Australia's Iranian diaspora, particularly from my home state of Victoria, through emails, phone calls and even online. Many of them are angry. They are angry because they see politicians in this country—in this Senate—particularly the Australian Greens, speaking as if the central issue in this story is Australia's alliances rather than the regime in Tehran that has oppressed their people for decades. These are Australians who have fled that regime. They know its brutality. Many still have family living under its rule. When people who have fled authoritarian rule tell us that we are getting the moral balance wrong, we should probably listen. But, while the Iranian people risk their lives for freedom, the Greens seem determined to use their struggle as a prop in a completely different argument—an argument against Australia's alliances and our security.

It is worth noting something else about the current state of the Greens' politics. Since the government recognised Palestinian statehood, the Greens have lost their campaign that once defined their politics. What we are now seeing is a party desperately searching for the next issue that allows them to attack federal Labor. The problem for the Greens is simple: when your politics depend on a permanent outrage, the moment one campaign ends, you have to go looking for the next one. But Australia's national security should never be reduced to a prop in someone else's ideological campaign, because our alliances are not about subservience. They are about sovereignty and shared values.