Allegra Spender (Wentworth, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to put on the record my deep concern about the destructive and destabilising behaviour of the Iranian government and to call on the government to list the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation. Last year, I joined protesters outside Parliament House calling out the appalling treatment of women in Iran, and I wrote to the foreign minister asking the government to apply Magnitsky sanctions and to list the IRGC as a terrorist group.

Despite international condemnation, the dangerous behaviour of the Iranian government has continued, and it extends well beyond terrorising its own citizens. Not only has Iran launched an attack on Israel; it has been a sponsor of terror groups like the Houthis, Hezbollah and Hamas, whose 7 October attacks killed more Jews than on any day since the Holocaust. Israelis and Palestinians alike are still suffering the terrible repercussions of that attack, and the Iranian government must be held accountable for the role it has played in promoting terror in the Middle East. Canada recently joined the US in listing the IRGC, and this designation was also recommended last year by a Senate committee.

This listing would send a strong and important message of Australia's commitment to fighting terrorism at home and abroad. I recognise there are questions about whether this designation is currently possible under Australian laws. If legislation changes are required, I urge the government to bring these forward urgently and make this listing of a terrorist organisation possible.