Global Courant
CANBERRA, Australia — Australia’s House of Representatives passed legislation on Thursday to prevent Russia from building a new embassy near Parliament House for security reasons.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the legislation would terminate Russia’s lease on the site on the advice of security authorities.
“The government has received very clear security advice about the risk of a new Russian presence so close to the parliament building,” Albanese told reporters. “We are acting quickly to ensure that the rental site does not become a formal diplomatic presence.”
Albanese said the Australian government condemns Russia’s “illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine”.
Albanese said opposition and other lawmakers not aligned with the government were informed of the legislation on Wednesday evening and agreed to pass it through both chambers on Thursday. The government has a majority in the House, but not in the Senate.
“To be clear, today’s decision has been made in the interest of Australia’s national security, and I thank the coalition (opposition) and crossbenchers in the House and Senate for cooperating on this matter,” Albanese said.
Albanian did not directly answer the question of whether there were any security issues related to the Chinese embassy across the Russian site.
“We’re addressing this very specifically, and it’s also based on very specific advice about the nature of the construction that’s being proposed for this site, about the location of this site, and about the possibility that would arise in terms of potential interference with activity. which takes place in this parliament building,” Albanese said.
The Russian embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The government decided to act after Russia won a Federal Court case last month that prevented it from being evacuated from the site now under construction.
The lease was terminated by the Canberra local authorities due to a lack of construction activity since it was awarded the lease in 2008 in the diplomatic district of Yarralumla.
Under the lease terms, Russia had agreed to complete construction within three years, but the embassy remains partially built.
The National Capital Authority, which manages embassy leases, decided to terminate the Russian lease, citing that “ongoing unfinished works detract from the overall aesthetics, importance and dignity of the area set aside for diplomatic missions .”
Russia currently occupies the former USSR embassy in the suburb of Griffith, further from the parliament building than the new location.
The Russian embassy will remain in Griffith and the Australian embassy will remain in Moscow, Albanese said.
Opposition spokesman Andrew Hastie said his party was behind the government on national security issues.
“Russia has not acted in good faith towards its neighbors in recent times. It continues its campaign (in Ukraine) rejecting the principles of territorial and political sovereignty,” Hastie said.
“There is a lack of confidence, there is a real risk to our national interest here and the security advice is that this lease should be terminated,” Hastie added.
Home Secretary Clare O’Neil said no embassy would be allowed on the site.
“The main problem with the proposed second Russian embassy in Canberra is its location. This site is directly adjacent to Parliament House,” said O’Neil.
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