A senior Greens senator has accused the Australian government of effectively involving the country in an “illegal war” after confirmation that Australian defence personnel were aboard a United States submarine that sank an Iranian warship.
David Shoebridge, the Greens’ justice and foreign affairs spokesperson, criticised Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’sassertion that Australia was not participating in offensive military action against Iran, despite three Australians being present on the submarine when it carried out the strike near Sri Lanka.
Speaking to reporters at Parliament House in Canberra, Shoebridge said the government’s position was contradictory.
“It is extraordinary that the prime minister, literally in the same sentence, said that Australian personnel were on a US nuclear attack class submarine that struck and sunk an Iranian frigate, but Australia is not directly involved in the war in Iran,” he said.
“These two facts cannot sit together in the same sentence.”
The federal government confirmed earlier that three members of the Australian Defence Force were serving aboard the US submarine as part of a training exchange with the US Navy, a program designed to prepare Australian sailors to operate nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS defence partnership.
Under the agreement between Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom, dozens of Royal Australian Navy personnel are currently embedded across the US attack submarine fleet to gain operational experience before Australia acquires its own nuclear-powered submarines.
More than 50 Australian sailors and officers are serving in the US fleet under these arrangements.
Shoebridge argued that the presence of Australian personnel on the vessel meant Australia was inevitably tied to the military operation.
“It is as sure as day follows night that Australians throughout the US military are actively involved part of the United States and Israel’s illegal war in Iran,” he said.
The Greens senator also claimed the US submarine breached international humanitarian law by failing to rescue survivors after the Iranian vessel was destroyed.
“The abandoning of the survivors to leave them to be picked up hours later by a Sri Lankan asset when there was no credible threat to the US nuclear submarine, that is clearly a contravention of the second Geneva convention,” Shoebridge said.
“If you sink a military asset, if it’s no longer a threat to you at the high seas, you have an obligation to rescue the survivors.”
However, legal experts have offered a different assessment of the incident.
Professor Don Rothwell, an international law specialist, has said the attack on the Iranian warship itself was lawfulonce armed conflict between the United States and Iran had begun.
The comments come amid intensifying debate in Canberra about the implications of the AUKUS submarine partnership, one of Australia’s largest and most complex defence programs.
While the Greens have criticised the agreement for drawing Australia deeper into US military operations, the federal opposition has reiterated strong support for the arrangement.
Shadow defence minister James Paterson said the Coalition remained firmly behind the pact.
“The US alliance is the cornerstone of Australia’s national security and AUKUS is our most important defence project,” Paterson said.
“A critical part of delivering AUKUS is that Australian Navy personnel get first-hand experience serving on US nuclear-powered submarines. It has the Coalition’s unqualified support.”
The Albanese government has maintained that Australian personnel serving aboard US vessels under the program are present only in a training capacity and do not participate in combat decisions.