Opposition leader Peter Dutton has accused the federal government of not backing Israel strongly enough. The swipe comes as Australians seeking to leave Lebanon are told to do so immediately.
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00:00So, we've seen just there the comments being made by, you know, international leaders.
00:08But here in Australia, there is some disagreement over the language being used to describe how
00:18Israel should respond to that missile attack we saw earlier this week from Iran.
00:23So, in the last couple of days, we've seen the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, and
00:29the Defence Minister, Richard Miles, say that, primarily, Israel does have a right to defend
00:36itself.
00:37However, the language that both of those ministers, the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister,
00:43have used, they have also spoken about the importance of de-escalating.
00:48They've also indicated their support for a 21-day curfew in the region.
00:53It's this part of the rhetoric being used by the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister
00:59that the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, seems to have taken some issue with.
01:05As far as I can see it, he doesn't think that it is as unequivocal support for Israel as
01:11is necessary at such a time.
01:15He's accusing the Albanese government of an appeasement strategy, even saying that the
01:21Albanese government is putting its domestic political agenda above Australia's national security.
01:29Let's go back and have a listen to what it is that Defence Minister Richard Miles is
01:34saying about what Israel should do in response to its attack from Iran.
01:42We are not about to deny countries rights to defend themselves.
01:48That said, we have added our voice to an international call led by the United States
01:55for a 21-day ceasefire and we continue to do that.
02:01And all the Australians in Lebanon are being asked to leave.
02:04How is the government helping them to do that?
02:08So we've had a press conference earlier today from the Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, who's
02:12outlined what the Australian government is doing to help the 1,700 Australians in Lebanon
02:19who've registered their interest in leaving Lebanon with the Department of Foreign Affairs
02:24and Trade, or DFAT as it's called.
02:28What we know is that there are around 80 seats on a commercial flight that have been made
02:32available today.
02:34Interestingly, we saw the Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, commenting that around 35, so
02:40less than half of those 80 seats that had been made available on today's flight had
02:47been filled at the time that she was giving that press conference.
02:50And it was perhaps for that reason that we saw her rhetoric really ramping up, saying,
02:56and I'll just look at my notes here, do not wait, don't delay.
02:59If you are an Australian living in Lebanon and you want to get out, the advice from Penny
03:05Wong is to not wait, to not delay.
03:09Even if you can't find the perfect route that you want to get out of Lebanon, with such
03:16an unpredictable situation as we're seeing at the moment in Lebanon, Ros, Penny Wong's
03:21advice is just take the first flight out there.
03:25Do not wait, don't delay.
03:27We also know that there are 500 seats that have been organised by the Australian government
03:33for this Saturday.
03:35And really interestingly, there is an RAAF plane that has been stationed in Cyprus as
03:43a backup plan.
03:44So what the Australian government appears to be doing at the moment is assisting Australians
03:51to get out of Lebanon by securing them seats on commercial or other flights coming out
03:57of Beirut Airport.
03:59But in the event that Beirut Airport does close, there is an RAAF plane there in Cyprus.
04:07Presumably it would be the preference to not have to use that and to get all the Australians
04:14in Lebanon who want to get out via commercial flights, but it is a backup option.
04:19Ros, I do just want our viewers to see the urgency with which Foreign Minister Penny
04:24Wong is delivering her message today.
04:27This is a clip from her press conference earlier.
04:31My message to Australians in Lebanon is do not wait.
04:35If you are able to secure a seat on a flight, please take that seat.
04:40If you have a seat on today's flight, don't delay.
04:44Now is not the time for you to wait and see, now is the time to leave.
04:50Foreign Minister Penny Wong, her advice there, now is not the time for you to wait, now is
04:55the time to leave.