Albanese abandons any pretence of a rules-based order

On the same day that Russia commenced what it called a ‘special operation’, Anthony Albanese, then the Opposition leader in the Australian Parliament, condemned Russia and joined the government in framing it as illegal aggression and a breach of international law. At that time, right up to this year, Albanese had no hesitation in calling the operation “illegal”.

”Russia’s illegal aggression must be stopped.”

” Russia’s “illegal and immoral invasion.”

He framed Ukraine’s resistance as “a struggle for the international rule of law” and a “violation of sovereignty and territorial integrity”, implicitly referring to Article 2(4) of the UN Charter.

Likewise, Penny Wong, Australia’s Foreign Minister, followed Albanese in condemning the operation, but going further in justifying sanctions on the basis of “Russia’s illegal war.”

For neither Wong or Albanese, these forthright statements about the legal status of Russia’s actions were ambiguous or infrequent. Neither has hesitated to associate the operation with legality.

Now consider the contrast with their statements on Israel. Rather than stating or framing Israel’s bombing of Gaza as illegal, Albanese and Wong simply ‘urged’ Israel to respect international law, always qualifying it with references to Israel’s “right to defend itself”.

In relation to a clear violation of sovereignty in Venezuela, Albanese and Wong did not label the U.S. action illegal, did not explicitly support the legality of the operation and deferred the legal justification to Washington.

Currently, after the US clearly violated almost all international law and the UN charter, Albanese and Wong are insulting Australians by pretending that comments about the illegality cannot be made.

” Now, we are not in a position to determine the legal basis of decisions that the United States and Israel have made, which is why we have said that is a matter for them to determine.”

The breathtaking double standard does not go unheeded by Australians. Regardless of their position on either conflict, they expect us to at least be honest about our status – that is, we are the groveling minions of an international bully that will almost certainly drag us into another endless war.

What possible grounds will Australia ever have for criticising actions of other countries. We have demonstrated that our national interest is subservient to whichever hegemon can bully us most.