Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Defence, Senator Payne. Yesterday the ABC reported that as part of Operation Manitou, the Royal Australian Navy on 16 August held training exercises with its Saudi Arabian counterpart in the Middle East, not far from where the very same Saudi Arabian navy is, as we speak, enforcing an ongoing naval blockade of Yemen expressly designed to starve millions of Yemeni civilians to death. We've all seen the harrowing images of emaciated children, barely more than skin and bones. Human Rights Watch and Oxfam have stated that they've asked the Department of Defence for an explanation around this exercise. Have you provided this explanation to Human Rights Watch and Oxfam? Can you please inform the chamber today as to why we are having a military exercise with Saudi Arabia? Have any Australian arms been used in this blockade?