Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

tor WONG (—) (): Thank you, Senator Ciccone. The Australian government immediately began supporting Australians in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank after the initial attack. On Monday, I directed my department to assess all options for Australians wanting to leave. We secured commercial options for assisted departures and readied the ADF to assist, should commercial options no longer be viable. As of this morning, more than 1,200 Australians previously registered have left Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including more than 400 Australians and their families on four Australian government flights. I would like to ensure I make this information public: subject to factors, including the security environment, we are planning two additional flights to Dubai today, and we have secured flights for onward travel from London and Dubai. We continue to assist more than a thousand registered Australians and 39 consular cases.