Labor has ruled out scrapping sanctions on Russian oil amid global supply shocks, with Foreign Minister Penny Wong saying it would pump cash into Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “war machine”.
Russia has emerged an economic winner from the Iran conflict.
Iran’s effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has cut a fifth of the world’s oil supply, leaving countries scrambling to find alternative sources or risk their economies grinding to a halt.
In their desperation, some governments have wound back international sanctions on Russia, including the Philippines.
The US also relaxed a narrow set of sanctions mostly targeting Russia’s shadow fleet.
Senator Wong said on Tuesday Australia would not follow suit.
“We don’t want to be providing Mr Putin with money to run his war machine, which would be enabling a continued attack on Ukraine and on Ukrainian citizens,” she told Sky News.
It was put to her that Liberal senator Alex Antic had floated the idea because current measures, such as cutting the fuel excise, may not suffice.
However, Australia has never imported large quantities of fuel or oil from Russia, making it unlikely that easing sanctions would make a dollar difference.
Senator Antic also has a history of being critical of Ukraine’s fight against invading Russian forces and drew widespread condemnation in 2023 for remarks about President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“Senator Antic has made a number of comments which are very negative about President Zelensky,” Senator Wong said.
“He’s made clear that he’s much more on Mr Putin’s side.
“It’s frankly quite a disgrace, given Australia’s national interests, that we have members of the Coalition who are prepared to back in President Putin in this immoral war which is about taking territory from another country.”
The Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, a Finnish think tank, last week put Russia’s daily earnings from oil exports at €388m ($650m).
That was 20 per cent above its daily average last month.
Australia has slapped more than 1800 sanctions on Russia since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February, 2022.
Canberra has also given Ukraine more than $1.7bn in assistance, including $1.5bn in military support.
The bipartisan backing has earned Australia a spot on Mr Putin’s list of unfriendly countries.
https://thewest.com.au/news/sanctions-relief-on-russian-oil-labors-red-line-c-22073532
