Tony Sheldon (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

[inaudible] It is a shame it didn't come a bit earlier, because in government they oversaw a decade of cuts to Australian diplomacy and multilateral institutions; a decade of inattention and cynicism. Those opposite were members of the UN committee that appointed Iran—get this—appointed Iran to the Commission for the Status of Women! They could have acted when they were in government. They did nothing. They said nothing. Unfortunately, they seem to remain committed to the Scott Morrison approach of putting political point-scoring ahead of the national interest in foreign policy.

As Senator Chandler well knows, the Albanese government is committed to action on Iran. We have acted and we will continue to act. The Australian government condemns the deadly and disproportionate use of force against protesters in Iran following the tragic death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, whose Kurdish name was Jina. We have raised our concerns regarding the brutal crackdown on protesters directly with the Iranian Embassy in Canberra. The government has been alarmed by reports that hundreds of people have been killed and many more injured, including dozens of children, as a result of the heavy-handed measures Iranian authorities have implemented to crackdown on ongoing protests. Australia supports the right of the Iranian people to protest peacefully and calls on the Iranian authorities to exercise restraint in response to ongoing demonstrations. As the foreign minister, Senator Wong, has told the Senate, we'll continue to work with our international partners and continue building pressure on the regime to cease its brutal campaign against its own citizens.

Senator Chandler seems to want to give people who might be the subject of sanctions as much warning as possible, which of course weakens their effect. It's an open-mic night in the Liberal Party foreign policy committee, and they're all competing for who can score the pettiest political point. The government won't play political games. We'll continue to step up pressure on the Iranian regime. Australia stands with the Iranian women and girls in their struggle for equality and empowerment and will continue to call on Iran to cease its oppression of women. We're committed to promoting gender equality, and women's empowerment, and ending violence against women and girls worldwide. The Liberals and Nationals had their chance in government, and they did nothing.