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TRANSCRIPT
"Australia will deploy an E7A Wedgetail to the Gulf to help protect and defend Australians and other civilians. The Wedgetail will provide Long Range Reconnaissance capability, which will help to protect and secure the airspace above the Gulf. The wedge tail and supporting Australian Defense Force personnel will be deployed for an initial four weeks in support of the collective self defence of Gulf nations. Additionally, in response to a request, my government intends to provide advanced, medium range air to air missiles to the United Arab Emirates."
That was Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, confirming the deployment of one RAAF E7A Wedgetail to the United Arab Emirates for four weeks.
Mr Albanese says that this mission is aiming to bolster civilian defences against attacks from Iran.
Defence Minister Richard Marles says 85 troops will leave Australia today [[Tuesday]].
"The requests that we are meeting today and the announcements we are making today, all of this is in defence of the Gulf countries. That is the basis on which our personell are being deployed and this equipment is being deployed."
There are currently 20,000 Australians living in the UAE.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is reporting that most Australians have already left the region.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong says that more than 2,600 citizens have returned on commercial flights with more departures scheduled from Qatar this week.
"We encourage those who do wish to leave, do so now. Do so while commercial flights are still available, however limited. I emphasise that DFAT has directed the departure of all dependents of officials posted to the United Arab Emirates. This is because the security situation is deteriorating and is likely to get worse before it gets better."]]
Regional defence systems have been active in the UAE, intercepting more than 1,500 incoming Iranian projectiles
So far, 12 countries across the Middle East have been drawn into the US and Israeli war with Iran and Hezbollah.
Mr Albanese says that the move is not intended as a military offensive against Iran.
He is reiterating that Australia will not deploy troops on the ground in Iran.
"There are around 115,000 Australians in the Middle East, around 24,000 of those in the UAE. Helping Australians means also helping the UAE and other Gulf nations to defend themselves against what are unprovoked attacks. My government has been clear that we're not taking offensive action against Iran, and we've been clear that we are not deploying Australian troops on the ground in Iran. We continue to work on contingencies to keep Australians safe and to help travellers leave the middle east."]]
Greens Senator David Shoebridge is demanding the immediate withdrawal of Australian military assets from the Gulf.
He is warning that the deployment of Airborne Warning and Control System ((AWAC))surveillance aircraft risks involvement in an illegal conflict.
He says that is not in Australia's national interest to provide tactical support for foreign strikes.
The Senator is highlighting that the current mission possesses dangerous offensive capabilities.
"Well, we know what this is for this is for. This is to put an Australian military asset in the Gulf to free up other US military assets for their attack on Iran and I know AWAC, which is the military resource being deployed. Yes, it does detect incoming air threats but it can also direct outgoing air threats and can direct outgoing munitions into a warzone."
Mr Shoebridge is arguing that Australia can protect and extract its citizens without a military deployment.
He says that hundreds of other nations are currently bringing their citizens home through non-military means.
Mr Shoebridge says that we should prioritise diplomacy over armed intervention.
He is maintaining that it is in Australia's long term interest to stand up for international law.
"This is Australia now being actively involved in Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu's illegal war. We don't have an alliance with the UAE. We don't have a strategic interest that would see Australians troops in the air or on the ground in this conflict. And again, you can see how, how the Donald Trump pressure is forcing Australia incrementally to get dragged into this war. The disruption of energy supplies, the disruption to the global economy, is an inevitability of this illegal war. So why on earth did Australia support it in the first place?"
