Foreign Minister Penny Wong says the government has expanded its crisis registration process to Australians in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar as conflict in the Middle East continues to disrupt air travel across the region.
Speaking on Monday, Wong said the situation remained difficult and that large numbers of Australians were affected.
“First I want to say to Australians in the region and their families and friends that I understand, we understand, how distressing and challenging this time is, and we will do all that we can to provide you with information and to support you,” she said.
“The situation is very challenging, and we have large numbers of Australians in the region.”
Wong confirmed she had asked the Department of Foreign Affairs to open the registration process to people in the UAE and Qatar. “That is on top of yesterday, I announced that we would open that registration process to Australians in Iran and in Israel,” she said.
She described the circumstances as fluid and reiterated that support would continue. “What I would say is this is a challenging situation. The Government will continue to do all that we can to support Australians in this situation.”
Wong said there were about 115,000 Australians across the region. “As I said in my opening, we have about 115,000 Australians in the region. So that is a lot of people,” she said.
She said the most practical way for people to return home would be through commercial aviation once airspace restrictions ease. “The best way to get them home would be for commercial flights to return, because that is at scale. Obviously, at the moment, airspace is closed or only intermittently open, so flights are disrupted and flights aren’t available. As soon as things become available, we will certainly be providing that information to Australians.”
Wong said there were about 115,000 Australians across the region. “As I said in my opening, we have about 115,000 Australians in the region. So that is a lot of people,” she said.
Asked whether the government would consider repatriation flights, Wong said officials were assessing options but noted the constraints posed by closed airspace. “Well, we will certainly provide the information. As I said, given the numbers, the fastest way to get people home would be if commercial flights recommence. So we want to see whether that commences. I think that most, most our likemindeds are in a similar position given the numbers of people in the region.”
She said planning was ongoing but warned that aviation restrictions limited any immediate action. “We are always looking at home we might support Australians. I would make the point that I’ve made a number of times, there’s conflict in the region, we’ve seen loss of life across the region, and air space is not open. So whether or not it is an Australian flight or a commercial flight, the flights are not able to occur.”
Wong was also asked about recent strikes in the region. She said those actions were for the countries involved to explain. “Ultimately, these strikes are a matter for the United States and Israel to explain. No one mourns the death of the Supreme Leader, this is a man who was responsible for a regime that brutally murdered its own people in an attempt to retain authority,” she said.
“This is a regime, led by this man, which has sponsored terrorism, sponsored proxies who have engaged in terrorism in the region. This is a regime which has been part of organising attacks on Australian soil. So we do not mourn his death.”
On Iran’s nuclear activities, Wong said the international community had longstanding concerns. “What we do know as an international community is Iran has consistently failed to comply with the decisions of the Security Council in relation to its nuclear program,” she said.
“We know that the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is the nuclear watchdog, has found Iran – has given evidence about the enrichment stage at which Iran has reached, and they have also said that Iran has refused to fully comply with the inspection regime. So I think we all understand the intention behind the regime.”
Asked whether Australia would follow the United Kingdom in arranging ground transport evacuations, Wong said the scale of Australians in the region shaped the government’s approach. “Look, that was put to me earlier this morning, again what I’d say is we have 115,000 people and that is a lot of people to try and assist, and the best way of getting people out would be for commercial flights to resume so we will look at when that is likely, we are obviously engaging with the airlines on this.”
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