Australia blocks Russia from building new embassy near parliament

Australia’s government has rushed to approve legislation terminating Russia’s lease on a plot of land next to its parliament, saying Moscow’s plans for an embassy on the site posed a threat to national security.

Russia’s government acquired the lease 15 years ago in a Canberra suburb, but the lease was cancelled last year by Australia’s National Capital Authority on the grounds that Moscow had taken too long to develop it.

After the NCA’s decision was overturned in court late last month, Australia’s government introduced legislation on Thursday to strip Moscow of the lease. The bill was unanimously supported by all parties.

Clare O’Neil, home affairs minister, told a press conference: “This location sits directly adjacent to Parliament House. The government has received clear national security advice that this would be a threat to our national security, and that is why the government is acting decisively today to bring this longstanding matter to a close.”

The land dispute has escalated against a backdrop of increased tensions between Canberra and Moscow. Australia has imposed sanctions against a long list of Russian individuals and companies following President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine last year.

It has also provided substantial financial and military aid to Kyiv, including domestically made Bushmaster combat vehicles, and has been openly critical of the Russian government.

Hervé Lemahieu, director of research at the Lowy Institute think-tank, said the Australian government’s change in tack betrayed its true rationale for blocking the new facility for the Russian mission.

“This suggests that the government is now less circumspect in hiding the real motive,” he said, adding that the incident “revealed the onion layers” of thinking in Canberra on “how to deal with authoritarian governments”.

The current Russian embassy in Canberra, which will continue to operate from its offices in the nearby suburb of Griffith, did not immediately comment on the Australian government’s legislative action.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he would await the Kremlin’s response.

“We don’t expect that Russia is in a position to talk about international law, given their rejection of it so consistently and so brazenly with their invasion of Ukraine and the atrocities that have occurred,” he said.

O’Neil said the site, which is located in the district of Yarralumla just outside a ring road that surrounds Parliament House, would also not be used in the future for any other diplomatic presence.

Australia’s willingness to grant Russia clearance just over a decade ago to build an embassy so close to its parliament “highlights how radically the outlook has changed”, Lemahieu said.