Topics: Australian should leave Lebanon; Albanese Government out of step with the US;
09:40AM AEST
3 October 2024
Laura Jayes: Well, the situation in Lebanon is particularly dangerous. There are 15,000 Australians registered living in Lebanon and some 1700 have registered their wish to come home. Joining me now is the Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister, Simon Birmingham. Penny Wong just updated us from Geelong about the plans to get Australians out of Lebanon to flights to charter flights on Saturday, and already 80 spots secured on one flight, but only 35 of those have been taken up. This or those details, Simon, are pretty emblematic of what happens in a war zone, how difficult it can be to get Australians out of such a place.
Simon Birmingham: Well, they are LJ and it’s why the Government and the Opposition, if there is one area where we’ve been on a unity ticket over the last few months, it has been around consistently telling Australians do not travel to Lebanon and if you are in Lebanon, get out at the first available opportunity. Those warnings have been very clear cut and unfortunately there are thousands of people who chose to ignore those warnings. Now, they’ve done so for a variety of reasons, and ultimately, they are free to do so. But the consequence of that is they should understand there will be limitations on the ability of the Australian government to get them out of a conflict zone. And also, that that I think in relation to the costs incurred for people who’ve ignored warnings and who could have left easily by commercial means in the last few months. Ultimately, they need to be carrying the costs of any repatriation and evacuation out of Lebanon.
Laura Jayes: This is the right response from the government so far. This is the right time. Would you agree to put in those evacuation flights? No sooner, no later.
Simon Birmingham: It’s right to try to create as much capacity as possible for those Australians who still want to leave, to get out. In that sense, it’s why we sought briefings a couple of months ago from the government, when it was clear that there was a risk of this situation unfolding and to understand the work that they were doing. Much of that work reflects and mirrors work that happened the last occasion that Australia had to help evacuate people out of Lebanon. You can see that through the use of Cyprus as a potential hub that the RAAF is positioning from. And so those arrangements we have been following closely engaging with the government, because it’s important to understand that work is in place, but ultimately it is up to the individual Australians there to take responsibility for themselves and for their own safety. They have chosen against warnings to be in Lebanon at this time. They’ve chosen to stay against calls for them to leave. Now, if there are seats available now, people should take them. If people choose not to take those seats, well, then they have to carry even greater responsibility for the consequences of choosing to stay.
Laura Jayes: What about the Australian government and Penny Wong’s messaging to Israel, our ally? They’re talking about de-escalation. Is that the right message?
Simon Birmingham: Look, there are many complexities, of course, as there always are in the Middle East. But we should be clear and the Albanese Government should be clear, much clearer than they have been about Israel’s inherent right to self-defence. Clearly, the condemnation of the attacks from Hezbollah, from Hamas, from Iran, all of whom have undertaken such vicious attacks against Israel and Israel’s right, as has been clear from the US to respond to those Iranian attacks. Now, I think we’ve seen consistency and clarity in the messaging from President Biden and from his administration. And the Albanese Government would have been much better placed to stay closer to the US position throughout this, which has been strong and resolute in its support of Israel, but also been trying to work constructively with partners across the region to try to find a ceasefire, which Hamas continues to reject in relation to Gaza, to try to negotiate one in relation to Lebanon, but one which does actually enforce the pushback of Hezbollah forces from southern Lebanon to give Israel security. All of these are important principles that indeed, we’ve seen greater clarity and consistency from the US than we have certainly seen from the Albanese Government.
Laura Jayes: Greater clarity and consistency in just the last week, because we have moved in lockstep with, in many ways with the US, haven’t we?
Simon Birmingham: Well, no we haven’t. The Albanese Government has chosen to vote differently at the United Nations on a series of resolutions to make statements that differ from the US, either through those votes or with other and different countries, and certainly hasn’t been clear cut. You heard this morning, the defence minister out there tying themselves in knots to avoid answering the question as to whether Israel has a right to strike back against Iran from these unprecedented attacks. Joe Biden and the US administration have been very clear that there is a right. They’re engaging with Israel, seeking to ensure that how that right, if Israel chooses to exercise it is undertaken carefully. But the Albanese Government won’t acknowledge that or say that with the type of clarity that the US administration is willing to do so.
Laura Jayes: Simon. Birmingham, we’ll leave it there. Thank you for joining the programme, as you do every week.
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