Topics: Iranian Ambassador to Australia
1015 AEST
4 October 2024
Cheng Lei: (Following package piece) Thanks a lot for that Liv, and in fact, to keep talking about this issue, is Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister, Simon Birmingham. Simon, great to see you. So just on that point, do you think it’s more important to keep up our diplomatic presence in Iran versus making a very clear point about Sadeghi’s comments? What would you do in Penny Wong’s shoes?
Simon Birmingham: Well Lei whilst we would wish to see Australia’s embassy in Tehran remain open, there is a real question as to how much do you compromise in terms of the safety, security, the values, the interests of Australians here in Australia in allowing Iran’s Ambassador to Australia to go around propagating hate speech, celebrating terrorism, just for that end goal of keeping our embassy open. Now it would be a matter for the Iranian government as to whether they chose to take action against our ambassador or embassy and diplomatic relations generally. What we are clear about is that Iran’s Ambassador to Australia now on multiple occasions, has engaged in contemptible behaviour and has spread speech from and within Australian shores that if he didn’t have diplomatic immunity may well see him charged under our hate speech crimes. And our view is that somebody behaving in that way should have that right to be here withdrawn and that the Albanese Government should show the courage to declare him persona no grata, to send him packing his bags back to Tehran, to say to the Iranian government we still wish to keep our embassy there and of course, they are free to send a new Ambassador to Australia, but that they ought to ensure they send someone who will respect Australia’s laws, Australia’s values, and will not propagate or celebrate terrorism and divisiveness whilst in our country.
Cheng Lei: And Simon, we know these protests are going to go ahead in Sydney and Melbourne this weekend. Are you confident that they will be safe and peaceful after the negotiations with the organisers?
Simon Birmingham: Lei, my view is that the protesters should not turn up – that October 7 is a day for reflection, commemoration, mourning, prayer, vigils, not one for protest and not one for people to take actions that indeed inflame the type of divisiveness I was just talking about before, but instead to be respectful on the day that mourns just 12 months ago, the biggest loss of Jewish life on a single day since the Holocaust. I think it’s pretty clear that people should show their own self-restraint, understanding that to take those actions on that day is contrary and counter to their cause that they are seeking to promote, and to show respect and consideration to their fellow Australians who will be mourning, who will be praying and will be reflecting on that day.
Cheng Lei: Simon, we’ve just heard about explosions around Beirut airport in the last few hours. Does it worry you that Israel’s ground invasion may cost Australian lives in Lebanon?
Simon Birmingham: Well, of course, it’s a concern Lei, but Australians who are in Lebanon have chosen to stay against explicit warnings from the Albanese Government, and those warnings have come with full bipartisan support from the Opposition. If there is one area in relation to the Middle East where Penny Wong and I have been on a unity ticket, Government and the Opposition, it has been continuously four months now repeating the message, do not travel to Lebanon and leave if you are there. Now, people have chosen to ignore that. The Government is doing the right thing in terms of trying to still urge people to go and to create some extra seats for them to go. But I think many Australians would rightly think, if you’ve chosen to stay there have to be limits on what the Government can do, on what risk other Australians are put in to try to rescue people, and that certainly people should be expected to pay their own way to get back and not to think that other Australian taxpayers are just going to foot the bill for those who have ignored countless warnings to get out and to get out weeks and months ago, not just days or hours ago.
Cheng Lei: What’s your forecast for what happens in this Middle Eastern conflict as the humanitarian crisis gets worse?
Simon Birmingham: I wouldn’t wish to make a forecast. I think it would be a brave person, perhaps a foolish one, to try to predict what will occur in the Middle East given the centuries of challenge that we have seen. We wish to see peace though, but peace will only come in an enduring way if terrorism is defeated. That’s why where we started in talking about Iran is so important. It’s not just about the Iranian Ambassador and what he says in Australia. But he of course, is doing that from the basis of a regime that is at the centre and the apex of driving terrorism and hatred across the region through Iran sponsorship of Hamas, of Hezbollah, of the Houthi rebels, and indeed their own direct terrorist actions and strikes taken against Israel – the type of disruption that they are causing not just to Israel, but to the global economy through the disruption of shipping trade through the Red Sea – all of this comes together in a way that shows that if we are to see true chances of stability and peace, we need to see that terrorism threat removed so that the Palestinian people, the Lebanese people, can live without the threat and horrors of Hamas or Hezbollah and instead live like countries such as Egypt or the UAE, who had normalised their relations with Israel and found ways to be able to work in peaceful coexistence to develop the region and to create a greater economic prosperity, safety and security for all which is ultimately what we wish to see.
Cheng Lei: Amen. Thanks a lot for your time.
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