Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) two and half years since the further illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine by Russia, Ukrainian military forces continue to bravely defend their homeland;

(b) Australia risks, again, falling behind like-minded partners in supporting Ukraine unless the Government moves to quickly back the G7 agreement of a $50 billion USD loan for Ukraine obtained through frozen Russian assets;

(c) having claimed legal difficulties as justification to not use Russian assets, the Government now needs to stop finding excuses to not support Ukraine and wholeheartedly commit to doing all that Australia possibly can;

(d) unlike the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Canada and France, Australia has not yet made any contribution to the unfolding global debate to the transfer of funds from Russia's frozen assets to Ukraine to assist with their war effort;

(e) if Australia's laws need amending to better target Russian assets or make more effective sanctions on Russia, then the Opposition will support sensible amendments to facilitate this;

(f) the Opposition, since the beginning of Russia's abhorrent and illegal further invasion of Ukraine, has offered full bipartisan support to the Government to implement all possible mechanisms that would aid Ukraine's self-defence;

(g) instead of acting wherever it can to assist Ukraine, the Government has let Australia's relative support decline by:

(i) junking Taipan military helicopters;

(ii) refusing assistance by not sending Hawkeii protected mobility vehicles;

(iii) ignoring calls to reinstate Australia's embassy in Kyiv; and

(iv) turning down requests for coal; and

(2) condemns the Government for its failure to assist Ukraine in its hour of dire need.

Australia risks again falling behind like-minded partners supporting Ukraine unless the Albanese government moves to quickly back the G7 agreement to a US$50 billion loan for Ukraine obtained through frozen Russian assets. Having claimed legal difficulties as justification to not use Russian assets, the Albanese government now needs to stop finding excuses to not support Ukraine and wholeheartedly commit to doing all that Australia possibly can.

If Australia's laws need changing to better target Russian assets or make more effective sanctions on Russia, then all Labor needs to do is act, because the coalition is clear in its support. Since the beginning of Russia's abhorrent and illegal invasion of Ukraine, the coalition has offered full bipartisan support to the Labor government to implement all possible mechanisms that would aid Ukraine's self-defence. Instead of acting wherever it can, Labor has let Australia's relative support decline, including by junking military helicopters, by making some cockamamie argument it can't provide Hawkei vehicles because the antilock braking system isn't quite up to scratch, by ignoring calls to reinstate Australia's embassy in Kyiv and by turning down requests for coal.

The full-scale invasion of Ukraine led to approximately US$300 billion in Russian central bank foreign currency reserves being frozen in G7 countries. Over the past two years, multiple analyses have been published demonstrating that a transfer of Russian assets to Ukraine would vindicate respect for international law and alleviate the burdens on Ukrainian and Western taxpayers because of Russian aggression. Unlike the UK and Canada, Australia has not yet weighed in on the unfolding global debate as to the transfer of Russia's frozen assets to Ukraine. Australia's contribution to this debate is well overdue.

The coalition have said that when Labor fails to act we will explore Senate inquiries or other mechanisms to put pressure on the Albanese government to do so. On 27 March 2024 the coalition was successful in referring the issue of Australian support for Ukraine to a Senate inquiry. This committee has been examining Australian support for Ukraine, with a focus on whether Australian support is sufficient, timely and coordinated in a manner that optimises opportunities drawing on government, industry and allied initiatives, and is due to report back on 16 September 2024. The coalition will also be examining the mechanisms to freeze and confiscate assets belonging to sanctioned persons and entities and how the proceeds can be used to benefit people and countries impacted by the behaviour of sanctioned individuals and entities as part of a broader Senate inquiry into Australia's sanctions regime.

It's not just the coalition raising these concerns; as reported in the Australian on 9 April 2024, an eminent group of former politicians, academics, ambassadors and doctors wants the federal government to redirect $9 billion of frozen Russian assets to help rebuild Ukraine. While Australia might not contain the largest pool of assets, we should at least be contributing to the debate. The United States is leading the global initiative for the payment of reparations to Ukraine via the transfer of forfeited Russian assets, although it controls only a minority of frozen Russian assets. Other than the US, Canada is the only other G7 nation that presently has a legal regime authorising the transfer of Russian sovereign assets to Ukraine.

As mentioned before, the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee has been examining Australian support for Ukraine, with a focus on whether Australian support is sufficient, timely and coordinated in a manner that optimises opportunities drawing on government, industry and allied initiatives. The coalition continues to stand with Ukraine. We honour the bravery and strength of the people of Ukraine, who continue to courageously defend their sovereignty, their freedom and their homes. We share their sadness at lives lost as they resist Russian forces—especially the innocent women and children who suffer from Russia's indiscriminate attacks. The government has refused to provide most of the military capabilities Ukraine have been publicly campaigning for, including tanks, Hawkeis and Taipan helicopters. We urge the government to reopen the Australian embassy in Kyiv as a strong show of support for Ukraine and base Australia's incoming ambassador for Ukraine in Kyiv. Slava Ukraini.

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