Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to communicate to the people of Ukraine from the Parliament of Australia that we see you, we hear you and we are with you, our brothers and sisters, in the democratic struggle. And we admire you, with great admiration, from a distance.

Two years on from Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine, the carnage continues. Vladimir Putin remains Russia's president, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy continues to lead his nation in its darkest hour. Ukraine is at the front line of the democratic fight against tyranny and an archaic form of international relations that the world should have long ago moved away from. Ukraine epitomises the rules based international order that must be maintained—an order that respects the sovereignty of nations and resolves disputes peacefully through diplomacy.

Australia recognises that Ukraine's fight is our fight, too. Australia remains steadfast in supporting Ukraine to defend itself, and in holding the Russians responsible for their illegal invasion. They need to be held to account. That is why Australia has recently announced further targeted financial sanctions and travel bans on 55 persons, and targeted financial sanctions on 37 entities. The new sanctions target those involved in Russia's deportation of Ukrainian children from regions under temporary Russian control. This follows the International Criminal Court's decision to issue arrest warrants for President Putin and Russia's Commissioner for Children's Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, for the war crime of unlawful deportation.

The government has also sanctioned targets in Russia's defence, energy, media and mineral sectors, as well as targets involved in Russia's procurement networks in Belarus, Iran and North Korea. These sanctions reflect the Australian government's position that those supporting Russia's illegal war will face consequences.

Australia has now imposed more than 1,200 sanctions in response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Today's sanctions build on last week's announcement that the Albanese government is providing $50 million to the International Fund for Ukraine, directly supporting the procurement of priority military capabilities. This contribution takes Australia's overall support to Ukraine to approximately $960 million, including $780 million in military support.

In my own capacity, I continue to advocate that my own government and other like-minded nations around the world expedite any assistance they can to provide support to Ukraine to finish the war and achieve peace on their own terms. In the last week of sitting in this parliament, I was visited by a delegation of Lithuanian politicians from across the political divide with one word on their lips: Ukraine. They see themselves on the edge of brutality, with Ukraine merely buying them and democracy time, under the continued onslaught of the Russians' expansionist regime. They urged Australia to continue its support and join them in that ongoing call.

There are few who understand what's going on in Ukraine better than the people of Lithuania. It has only recently been three decades since Lithuania's aspirations were being stifled by the boot of Soviet imperialism, a fate shared by many others in Eastern Europe. And yet, against overwhelming odds, Lithuanians led a successful, peaceful revolution against Moscow, becoming the inspiration for a cascade of free peoples across Eastern Europe and Central Asia. While some have struggled to shrug off the Soviet legacy, Lithuania has worked tirelessly to become a shining example of democracy and the rules based international order in Europe.

I'm proud of the contribution from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. I thank my colleagues in the parliament for being part of that friendship group and the co-chair, Senator Paterson, for his continuing advocacy. Internationally, next month, I will be representing Australia at the Inter-Parliamentary Union, where I will meet again with the Ukrainian delegation. I will bring them Australia's— (Time expired)