Gerard Rennick (Queensland, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Penny Wong. The country of Syria has been overthrown recently by terrorists formerly associated with ISIS and al-Qaeda. There are reports these terrorists are abusing and killing Christians and other minorities. In 2012, the then US Deputy Secretary of State Jake Sullivan sent an email to Hillary Clinton saying, 'Al-Qaeda is on our side in Syria.' In 2016, the Los Angeles Times reported that terrorists funded by the Pentagon are fighting terrorists funded by the CIA in Syria. Given the Australian government has previously condemned the Assad regime for its atrocities, why has it said nothing about the human rights abuses in Syria committed by the current regime, and is this because Australian foreign policy is controlled by deep state western intelligence agencies more interested in imperialism than in upholding human rights and democratic values?