Media
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Transcripts
March 5, 2026
Ted O'Brien
With respect to the unfolding conflict in the Middle East, the government has one primary job to do. That is to keep Australians safe and to bring them home. 115,000 Australians are stranded in the Gulf today, and they are reading the same reports that the US, the UK, Canada are chartering flights. New Zealand is deploying military planes to bring their citizens home, and yet they hear nothing about the plan from the Australian Government. This has been amateur hour from the beginning. For many Australians stranded in the Gulf, this is their hour of need and what they've had from their government is amateur hour in response. We are calling today on the government to clarify what their plan is to bring Australians home. This government has been flat footed from the very beginning, with 115,000 Australians in the Gulf wondering what the government is doing, they were found flat footed in the lead up to this conflict beginning, and since. On the 25th of February, the government saw the risk grave enough to ensure that diplomats dependents were evacuated from the region. And yet it took three more days and 100 ballistic missiles before they issued a 'do not travel' warning for the Australian public, and ever since, they've also been behind. At times like this, especially when you're away from home, you need to know that your government is there. They've got your back. They're doing everything they can. But the reports coming from Australians directly on the ground with whom I and my colleagues are speaking, they are finding the Australian Government is at least a day behind. That is why we are calling on the government today to clarify their plan to ensure that Australians are kept safe and they are brought home.
James Paterson
Thank you, Ted. Our men and women in uniform are capable of amazing things. Last year in Israel, in 2024 in New Caledonia and most infamously, in Afghanistan, in 2021. At short notice, they are able to deploy to dangerous situations to evacuate 1000s of Australians and our friends from harm's way. But they can't do it on their own. They need direction from government and a decision of government before they can deploy to help Australians in need. The Prime Minister made a statement in Question Time this afternoon that needs urgent clarification. He said earlier this week, consular teams and military assets were deployed to the Middle East as part of contingency plans to help Australians leave the Middle East. Well, if that is the case, which Australian assets were deployed? Was it a Hercules? Was it a Globemaster? Was it something else? To which country did they deploy? For what purpose was this deployment conducted? And if there are Australian military assets in the region, when will they take Australians on board and bring them home? It's up to the Prime Minister to explain what's happening, because there are 115,000 Australians waiting for answers, but they've got none from their government. This is the most critical task of an Australian government, to protect Australians and to bring them home, and the Albanese government must step up and do so.
Senator Dave Sharma
Let me just add, last week, the government failed to warn the Australian public about this crisis. Prime Minister Albanese was more interested in talking about the risks of King Andrew at the House of Windsor than he was about the risks of a conflict in the Middle East. This week, the government is failing to respond adequately. We've got Australians stranded over there in the tens of thousands. Every other nation of comparable size and significance is either chartering aircraft or sending their military planes and the government's only strategy is hope. And by the government's own admission. This conflict is likely to continue and it has intensified in recent days. In that situation, we cannot rely on civilian aircraft and commercial air routes to reopen. It's now incumbent on the government to lay out a plan for how they will look after Australians and bring them home.
Journalist
Inaudible
Ted O'Brien
The government has advised that there are 115,000 Australians in the region. Many of whom are stranded. Each of their situations, of course, will be very different. As somebody who myself, has lived many years offshore, I know what it's like when times get tough. You need your government. In fact, you pine for your government. You pine for your country. And the times are really tough, you just want to get home and what we are seeing is they are not getting the responses they deserve and unfortunately, many of them are losing confidence. They're losing trust in their own government and that is why today we are not speaking on anyone else's behalf, then the 115,000 Aussies who are in that region. It's on their behalf, that we're calling on the government to clarify how they are going to keep those people safe, how they go to bring people home.
Journalist
Even if it's not all 115 there will be 1000s of people. We're talking about is, is your belief or your suggestion, they should all be entitled to repatriation if it's too difficult to get a commercial fly out? Because that could be 1000s of people or dozens of flights.
Ted O'Brien
My point is this, even in the lead up to the strike beginning, the Australian Government was founded one they had two sets of rules, two sets of standards, if you like. They had one standard where they said that diplomatic dependents should come home because the risk was so high, but they didn't actually issue the highest do not travel warning until three days later. Now we have a situation where we have literally 1000s of Australians, many who want to get home, and they, like us, are reading all the reports about what other countries are doing, but it's a mystery from the Australian government about what their contingency plan is. We're calling on the government to clarify that plan. That's what we're calling on making that call on behalf of 115,000 Australians in the region who just want to know what their government is doing.
Journalist
Inaudible.
Ted O'Brien
I think that is an excellent question and it's probably 100 questions that the government needs to answer. These are precisely the questions the government needs to answer. The government's the only one who can answer these questions and on behalf of the 115 1000 Australians who are in that region, we are calling on the government to provide answers.
Journalist
Mr. O'Brien, were you taken by surprise when Albanese said today in Question Time that military assets have been deployed? And have you sought direct clarification from his office or from Penny Wong about what those assets are?
Ted O'Brien
I was surprised by the Prime Minister's statement today, but the Prime Minister has every right within the Parliament to make announcements and today we heard that he has deployed military assets to the region. As Senator Patterson has rightly posed questions to explain what that actually means. What assets? To where? And for what purpose?
Journalist
How about the restricted airspace issue that the government is raising. In saying that one of the reasons that you know there could be these difficulties is because it's restricted airspace for commercial airlines as well as government airlines or government charters?
James Paterson
That's a challenge, obviously, every country has to grapple with, and the New Zealand military has decided that it's a solvable problem for them. They've deployed their military assets to the region to evacuate their citizens. If the New Zealand military is capable of doing so, then I would like to think that the Australian military is capable to do so. It's all the more important that we have military assets available for this task if the airspace is restricted in some way, because obviously commercial flights won't be leaving in those circumstances.
Journalist
Inaudible..
James Paterson
That’s not something I can reasonably foresee. There's been no requests and nor is the government anticipating any requests, as I understand it, and our most direct area of national interest is the Indo-Pacific, which we call home. Although we have an interest in supporting, morally, the case that Israel and the United States are making in Iran. And of course, particularly, we stand with the people of Iran. I can't anticipate Australian defence assets being deployed as part of the conflict, but the Prime Minister has now said that they've been deployed as a part of the repatriation operation, so lets get to the bottom of that.
Journalist
Inaudible (Question was about Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carny comments about the Iran conflict).
James Paterson
My view is that it's very important that the threat that Iran poses to the region, and the world be removed. Firstly, its ballistic missile program, secondly, its nuclear weapons program. Thirdly, its state sponsorship of terror around the world. And finally, the indiscriminate attacks it's now launching on its neighbours who are not even parties to the conflict, now numbering 10 regional neighbours who have been struck by Iran. I think the world will be a better place if this regime can be removed from power, but ultimately, that is a choice for the Iranian people.
Journalist
Would you be comfortable with those flights going with various flight routes, or should they just focus on some of those (inaudible) those travel hubs at this stage? And why do you think this is necessary when during covid, there were no military repatriations, people had to find their own way on various things like that?
James Paterson
Well I am not going to make operational decisions on behalf of the government from opposition. That wouldn't be a responsible or appropriate thing to do, but I just point out that we have done this before when it has been necessary to do it, and we particularly successfully did so in 2021 in Afghanistan. That was an extraordinary crisis situation, but very quickly, a very large number of Australian Government assets deployed and evacuated 1000s of Australians and our friends from Afghanistan. If we can do it in those circumstances, we can do it in these circumstances too. Thanks, everyone.
ENDS