Government urged to be ‘up front’ about US request for Navy support
Australia must be upfront about its reasons should it reject a US request to send a warship to the Middle East to protect Israel from a rebel-enforced blockage, the federal opposition says.
The request has come through at an operational level from the combined maritime force headquartered in Bahrain, of which Australia has been part.
The passing of legislation by the US Congress enabling Washington to sell Australia nuclear-powered submarines underscored the importance of the geo-strategic relationship, acting opposition leader Sussan Ley said.
“This is a serious request from our closest ally,” she told Seven’s Sunrise program on Friday.
“I genuinely want to know if the government is not going to accept this request, then why not?
“We should support our closest ally, we should genuinely consider their request.”
That’s exactly what the government was doing, Defence Minister Richard Marles said.
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“We will consider this in the normal course and work through with the Americans about how we can best contribute,” he told ABC TV.
“There are Australians who are embedded in that headquarters right now and in the past, we have sent navy vessels to participate in the activities of the (combined maritime force).”
But Australia’s main focus had been on the immediate region, with HMAS Toowoomba recently returning from a deployment to the South China Sea, he said.
Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen are enforcing a blockage on ships sailing to Israel through the Red Sea, in what they say is an act of support for Palestinians.
Any international force going in to protect the shipping lanes would face “extraordinary problems” if they made an irrational move, Iran’s defence minister warned.
“Nobody can make a move in a region where we have predominance,” Mohammad Reza Ashtiani said.
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But the US military will not hesitate to act “where we deem it necessary and appropriate, including to protect against actions in the maritime domain that could threaten our forces,” Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said.
Australia’s decision to break with the US and vote for a United Nations resolution calling for a humanitarian ceasefire could also be seen as a snub, Ms Ley said.
But Prime Minister Anthony Albanese defended the decision to back a humanitarian ceasefire despite the failure of a US amendment to the resolution explicitly condemning Hamas, which Australia voted for.
“We joined with almost every country in the world to say that our position … is to seek to have all of the hostages released, which should occur,” he told Sydney radio station 2GB.
“We respect Israel’s right to defend itself but the numbers of casualties are just quite terrible there in Gaza and every innocent life counts, whether it be Israeli or Palestinian.”
Mr Albanese denied a humanitarian ceasefire could give Hamas – designated a terrorist organisation by Australia – time to commit more atrocities.
“We want Hamas to be disarmed,” he said.
“Hamas can have no role in the future governance of Gaza and we need to work towards a political solution.”
with Reuters
