Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the government's responses to Greens questions today in relation to the latest bloody and illegal war in the Middle East.

Many Australians are aghast and shocked and extremely worried about the Albanese government's support for Donald Trump's latest war in the Middle East, the deadly blasts and bombs that have already cost the lives of hundreds of innocent civilians; schoolchildren with schools being bombed and hospitals struck; and the young, the vulnerable and the sick, carrying the burden of this bloody war only two days in. Military action is irresponsible and dangerous at best, when its consequences cannot be controlled in such a volatile region—one of the most volatile in the world. While our thoughts are with the innocent civilians and the people of Iran, we, too, are thinking about the innocent civilians and people throughout the Middle East in other countries around the region who, too, are now hiding from the shelling and the bombs. This is wrong. There's a reason that the United Nations secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, has called it wrong, has condemned it and has asked for it to stop.

Evil thrives and innocent people suffer when good people stay silent, when moral courage crumbles and when governments who should know better, who do know better, capitulate to the bullies and the tyrants. Donald Trump should not have the support of the Australian government for this illegal war. It is not our war. It is not in our name. And we should not be allowing it to occur without condemnation. Australians here and overseas are already impacted, and it's time the Australian government, the Labor Party, the Liberal Party and One Nation stopped cowering to the bullies in the US.

Penny Allman-Payne (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I also rise to take note of answers to questions asked by Green senators. I associate myself with the comments made by Senator Hanson-Young. Our Foreign minister was asked to confirm whether or not the Australian government believes that the war that has been started in Iran is illegal, and our Foreign minister refused to answer that question, deflecting and deferring and saying it is up to the US and Israel to explain their actions. That should horrify every single Australian—that our own government doesn't have the willingness or the capacity to make a call on whether international law has been breached. Are you incompetent, or are you lying?

The United Nations has said it's unlawful. It didn't even go to Congress in the US. US Democrats and some Republicans are questioning its legality, and yet our prime minister and our Foreign minister are first out the gate to say: 'Good job. Well done. We support you.' Shame! It is possible to be against a hateful regime, to condemn its actions, to support the right of Iranians to freedom, which the Greens are on the record as supporting, and, at the same time, to be against an unjust and dangerous military intervention that is outside international law. When did we start picking and choosing when we follow the law and when we don't? That should be alarming to every Australian, because a government that picks and chooses when it follows the law might not just start doing that overseas. There's a real chance they will start doing it here at home. This Labor government has lost its way, and it should be ashamed of itself.

Question agreed to.

Slade Brockman (WA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Just before we move on, I will remind senators that, if the chair—particularly to assist the clerks at the table—could be informed if time is going to be split between senators, it is helpful.