United Australia Party Senator Ralph Babet has a knack for getting under Labor’s skin and this week, he succeeded in riling up Foreign Minister Penny Wong.
Delivering his first question in a month, Senator Babet interrogated Wong over the topic of Russian oil.
‘Minister, six months ago I asked you if it was in the national interest to permit the importation of fuels that originate from Russia. Your answer was, “With respect, Senator Babet, your support for President Putin’s regime is a disgrace.” I note that a few days ago, President Trump announced that the United States would purchase Russian diesel to help ease the pressure on American families. Minister, is the President of the United States also a disgrace?’
Senator Babet was tempting Senator Wong with juicy click-bait, but she chose to bite Babet rather than Trump.
‘Senator Babet, you mentioned the question from six months ago. It is good to have you back, mate. This is the first question you have asked in six months. If you want to talk about what is disgraceful, I think it is disgraceful that a Senator rocks up here, takes six months before turning up to do some work, continues to collect a salary, and posts holiday photos everywhere.’
And on and on it went with masterful avoidance of the question.
Wouldn’t it be nice if politicians behaved like the rest of us, and answered questions in an adult fashion? They are paid an enormous amount of money to do so.
Imagine if ordinary people did this. ‘Hey Janet, did you finish that purchase order due today? I have the supplier on the line.’ ‘Well, Frank, congratulations on bringing coffee to the meeting for the first time in 18 months.’ And yet this is what it’s like in Canberra. A perpetual theatre performance with the occasional economy-ruining bill thrown in for a jump scare.
Besides, if Senators aren’t going to answer questions properly, what difference does it make if they’re absent? The whole thing is an insult to Australians working to the bone to pay for the consequences of Canberra.
Eventually Senator Wong got around to declaring Russia’s invasion of Ukraine ‘illegal and wrong’ and reaffirmed that Australia will ‘continue to stand with Ukraine’.
‘I understand you want to stand with President Putin against Ukraine. I completely disagree with you and I think that is a shameful position. We will not be changing our position.’
Senator Wong could have started with ‘due to our stated relationship with Ukraine and prior decision regarding Russian oil, we will not be following the US’ example at this time’ and sat down.
The point the conversation never got to, due to the unnecessary inter-personal mudslinging, was geopolitical bargaining with sanctions as a means to resolve conflict between major powers.
Russian oil, sanctions, and America’s position should be discussed in Parliament, with a sober and sensible air.
Whatever Senator Babet’s views on Russia might be aside (I do not know them), he was right to call Senator Wong out by replying, ‘That was an art form. It did not answer a single thing. Why don’t we put our national interests first as well?’
Once again, Senator Wong reaffirmed that standing with Ukraine was in the national interest.
The Foreign Minister owes us more than this. Australia should engage in an urgent discussion about what the world’s most powerful country is doing, and more particularly, why.
Geopolitics between Russia and the US is tumultuous and the survivability rate of their deals provide fodder for the betting markets. Still, three days ago Trump signed a USD4.5 billion deal for diesel. It followed a summit in Miami last week in which Ukraine was verbally cautioned for refusing to desist in its campaign against Russian oil refineries. The US threat of removing intelligence lines from Ukraine was a serious one.
Unable to meet the military force of Russia head-on, Ukraine has been utilising drone warfare against Russia’s largest refineries, including one on the edge of Moscow. The targets involve refining infrastructure, such as desalination plants, that form part of the structure. President Zelenskyy sees crippling Russian oil as a way to bring the war to an end. The result so far as been reported as one of the worst fuel crises in the country since the last days of the Soviet Union.
According to S&P Global Energy, between April 1 and August 31, roughly two-thirds of Russia’s 36 large-scale refineries have been attacked.
There is a live map of the strikes here and another one here.
Setting aside the fact that the entire world has forgotten about the climate apocalypse and emissions, crippling the oil industry is not solely about domestic energy and heating, it also grounds Russia’s military. Targeting refineries is something Putin cares about far more than finger-wagging at the United Nations and sternly-worded X posts from Nato.
Senator Wong has plenty to work with in a debate about maintaining sanctions, even though we know significant third-party loopholes via Asian and Indian refineries make it impossible to stop Russia from profiting from Australia’s oil purchases.
It is disappointing that Senator Wong did not stand up and make the point that Russia is struggling financially to repair these refineries and that forcing Russia to defend its domestic assets weakens its position inside Ukraine.
Perhaps that is because of the white elephant in the Ukraine-Russia war: no one, including Nato, has a plan to push Russia out of Ukraine without escalating the war to greater Europe. Weakening Russia and annoying Russia is meant to force a retreat of Russia’s hand as per the old world order rules that our politicians keep going on about. Unfortunately, it’s an economic bluff, and Russia knows it. France and Germany aren’t going to level Moscow. Nato isn’t in any fit shape for war. This has been Donald Trump’s point all along and his frustration with European leaders who refuse to sit down and talk about reality. America tried to help Europe, now it seems that America is protecting itself from Europe’s steady collapse, not least of all with the Greenland Deal.
And so it was that Trump announced the controversial Russian oil deal on Truth Social, advertising it as ‘lower prices for Americans, especially our Great Farmers, Ranchers, and Truckers’ which he added were his ‘Greatest Priority’.
It is also meant to come with a ceasefire on energy assets.
Ukraine accused the US of ‘prolonging the war’. They launched another attack on Russia’s oil refineries on the Saturday following the summit, despite the US asking them not to.
Domestically, the US and its Congress remain conflicted on the merits of this decision.
Our press are even more clueless.
Reports of Trump loves dictators!!! as a means of explanation are outrageously dumb.
Is no one curious about what really led the White House, the only entity in full possession of classified information, to negotiate this deal?
It’s unlikely this is about ‘cheap oil’ and far more likely this has to do with bringing the Ukraine-Russia war to a close so the US can consolidate its forces and restock to defend against Chinese aggression around Taiwan or continue whatever mess is unfolding in the general vicinity of Iran.
Who knows, perhaps Putin is having domestic leadership troubles after so many young Russian men were stripped from their family only to be fed through the meatgrinder of war. Butchering Ukraine is not universally supported in Russia and even less so when the body-bags come back into poor communities who feel as if they are being victimised while the elite in Moscow are protected.
These are not trivial problems for Russia, especially as oil and gas prices soar due entirely to a self-inflicted war of aggression.
The arguments we’re witnessing are therefore probably operating on various levels of understanding. Keep that in mind.
Trump insists he ‘made the right choice for the American People’ while Republicans are split. Congress banned Russian petroleum products in 2022 and they remain dedicated to the defence of Ukraine and support of Nato. They appear to view the re-opening of Russian oil purchases as a reward chip on the board that should not be played until after a stable ceasefire. They have since stated that they oppose offering Putin an ‘economic lifeline’.
Meanwhile, Trump snapped at Zelenskyy after the strikes resumed, telling reporters, ‘He’d better damn well stop. It’s time for Ukraine to get a new President.’
America gave Ukraine free money for years, but it is doubtful Russia is getting ‘free’ oil money. The White House knows these finances will be used to rebuild and refuel the Russian army.
The question Senator Wong and indeed Senator Babet should be asking is, ‘What does America want?’
This conspicuous gap of knowledge with our closest and most powerful ally is a worrying verdict on the Labor government.
Instead of viewing the sanctions as the geopolitical (rather than moral) tool critical in negotiating Russia toward a ceasefire, Labor kept up the emotional charade. This has left them handcuffed to a decision in a rapidly shifting geopolitical situation which looks particularly ridiculous when Labor’s two favourite trading partners, China and India, maintain close military and trade relationships with Russia.
Like it or not, Senator Wong, Australian money flows into Russia one way or another because of the choice Labor made to move closer to Asia and further from America.
Energy Minister, Chris Bowen, is in an even worse virtue-position. He said in response to an ABC question: ‘We don’t need or want Russian fuel in Australia. We do not want Vladimir Putin to benefit from this war in the Middle East. What the United States does is a matter for them, but we won’t be changing our approach.’
Okay, Minister Bowen. If you feel that strongly, why do you support Chinese green energy and EVs when China accounts for around half of Russia’s oil exports? China is also Russia’s largest coal customer sitting between 37-43 per cent of Russian coal exports. Australian-bought green technology is almost certainly propping up Russia via China. India is Russia’s second largest purchaser of oil and Modi, who was welcomed to Melbourne by Labor with a stadium celebration, is buying Russian oil at its highest rate and is Russia’s second largest coal purchaser.
Does Minister Bowen, Senator Wong, and Prime Minister Albanese have any criticism for Xi Jinping or Narendra Modi?
It is one thing for Labor to parade their virtue panic in a Q&A in Canberra, but their moral consistency in the real world falls woefully short.
Alexandra Marshall is an independent writer. If you would like to support her work, shout her a coffee over at donor-box.
