Dave Sharma (Wentworth, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to draw attention to the plight of Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert, an Australian national and an academic by profession who has been held in Iranian state custody since September 2018. Dr Moore-Gilbert, who grew up in Bathurst, New South Wales, is an expert on Middle Eastern politics. She was educated at the University of Cambridge and has taught at Melbourne University. According to media reports, Kylie travelled to Iran in 2018 to the holy city of Qom to participate in a conference about Shia Islam at one of Qom's universities. Apparently she had travelled to the conference as an invited guest.

After attending this academic conference, Dr Moore-Gilbert was detained at Tehran Airport upon leaving and has since endured what could only be described as a nightmare for herself and for her concerned family. In late 2019 Dr Moore-Gilbert was tried and convicted of espionage and sentenced to 10 years in prison. It was a trial that was held in secret, at which she did not appear to receive independent legal representation and which was on the basis of allegations that could only be said to be lacking in supporting evidence. A subsequent appeal against Dr Moore-Gilbert's sentence failed. She's currently being held, according to letters from her smuggled out, in an isolated wing run by the Revolutionary Guard at Tehran's notorious Evin Prison.

As Dr Moore-Gilbert wrote in one of her smuggled letters:

Over the past nine months I have been completely banned from any contact with my family, with the exception of a three-minute phone call (with my father), which was only granted after I took desperate measures which put my own life at risk.

There are many Australians held overseas at any given time, but I think this case does demand our special attention. A young woman is being held far from home in very trying conditions. The Australian government does not accept the charges that have been made against her. Her future is bleak. As her letters make clear, she is rapidly losing hope, and her health is in danger. In addition to the trying nature of what appears to be solitary confinement, I also draw attention to media reports of a possible outbreak of coronavirus at Evin Prison and the shortage of treatment medicines available for prisoners at that prison.

I'm pleased that the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Payne, has taken up this issue and this case regularly with her Iranian counterpart, most recently in January in India. It's important that all of us here in this building support these efforts. As Senator Payne has stated:

Our view is that we don’t accept the charges upon which she was detained, held, charged and convicted, and we want to ensure the conditions in which she is held are appropriate.

I myself met with the Iranian ambassador today to convey my concerns for the fate of Dr Moore-Gilbert in very similar terms.

I know many in Australia are following the case of Julian Assange closely. This includes several members of parliament who have taken a particular interest in this case. I wish them well in doing so, but my own view is that I have faith in the rule of law, due process and the independence of the judiciary in the United Kingdom. Mr Assange has strong legal representation in an open trial and before an impartial judiciary. The charges he faces are known, and he has a spirited defence team acting object he behalf. He will get a fair hearing in court, and justice will ultimately be served. I wish, however, very much that a comparable number of Australians would show the same level of commitment and interest in the case of Dr Moore-Gilbert. In my view, her circumstances are far more compelling of our national sympathy and attention. In of Dr Moore-Gilbert's letters, smuggled out of Evin prison quite recently, she wrote, 'I feel like I am abandoned and forgotten.' Let us all do everything we can to let Dr Moore-Gilbert and her family know that we will not abandon her, that we will not forget her and we will advocate ceaselessly on her behalf to secure her release.