Media Release – Australia shows contempt for International rules-based order in joining with the US in the Persian Gulf, 21 August 2019

MEDIA RELEASE               FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                       21st August 2019

Australia shows contempt for an international rules-based order, agreeing to join the US and UK with a naval, air and ADF personnel presence in the Persian Gulf without any national debate or UN resolution.

PM Scott Morrison announced today that Australia would join an international mission to protect trade through the Strait of Hormuz.    The international force consists of the UK, US, Australia and Bahrain.

Spokesperson for the Independent and Peaceful Australia network, Ms Brownlie said: “This is being presented as protection of the flow of oil through the Persian Gulf and in Australia’s national interest, but it is clear the US is chafing at the bit for an opportunity to attack Iran having spent many years imposing harsh sanctions on the people and most recently pulling out of the JCPOA effectively destroying prospects for peace with Iran.”

“it is also worth noting the irresponsibility of our government in allowing our oil stocks to be so low making us more vulnerable to supply issues and creating a dependence on the US to provide back-up reserves.”

“The last illegal action taken by the US ,UK and Australia was to form the so-called coalition of the willing to mount an attack and invasion of Iraq opening a pandora’s box of instability in the whole region.”

“Australia has no interest in a conflict in the Persian Gulf, and no enmity towards Iran. Such a conflict without a UN Security Council resolution would be illegal, and would expose Australian leaders and the ADF to accusations of the war crime of aggression,” said Ms Brownlie.

Former secretary of the Defence Department, Paul Barratt, told The Guardian, Australian involvement in potential military action in the Gulf could be illegal, and argued it was “very foolish for us to get involved in this provocative behaviour”.

“This is an application of military force. There ought to be a debate in the parliament, and we ought not to engage in any activity that would foreseeably involve the use of military force without that debate,” he said.

“Australian leaders need to heed the lessons of the past. Its time we decoupled from US foreign policy and acted independently in the interests of peace and stability,” said Ms Brownlie.