Labor still dodging simple questions about US requests to Australia for support in US-Israel-Iran war

Labor has continued to obfuscate basic questions about what military or logistical support the United States has asked Australia to provide in the US-Israel-Iran war.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong repeatedly evaded questions on Thursday about whether Australia had agreed to an official request by our closest ally to provide military support to defend gulf nations.

On Tuesday Defence Minister Richard Marles disclosed that the Trump administration made requests to Australia yet refused to elaborate on what they were.

“A number of other countries, including the US have made requests which are centred on helping to provide for the defence of the Gulf countries,” he told ABC’s 7.30 Report on Tuesday evening.

It came after the Prime Minister was evasive during a Tuesday press conference when pressed for further details about international requests Australia had received, and precisely what were the strategic objectives of the war sparked by joint US-Israel strikes on Iran a fortnight ago.

He had used the appearance to announce that Australia would be sending top surveillance aircraft and missiles to the Middle East as part of a United Arab Emirates request.

But it had come less than six hours after Mr Albanese received an early morning call from US President Donald Trump.

Senator Wong again gave only vague answers on Thursday when asked explicitly what the US request included, when it had been received, and if Australia had responded.

They had been similar questions her colleague Pat Conroy deflected a day prior as acting defence minister while Mr Marles travelled to Indonesia for a diplomatic trip.

Instead of directly answering, she insisted the current deployment of limited assets by Australia was solely in response to a UAE request and it was in a “defensive capability, not offensive”.

“We’re not going to broadcast all aspects of requests, that would not be a sensible thing to do in the middle of a conflict,” she said.

“We have engaged with partners about the request we have responded to, which is the request of the United Arab Emirates.”

When pressed again whether Australia had responded to its ally, Senator Wong said: “Well, of course we engage with the US but the request that we have responded to is the United Arab Emirates.”

Greens Senator David Shoebridge was scathing of the government’s refusal to answer basic questions on what Australia had committed to in what he described as an illegal war.

Perth USAsia Centre chief executive Gordon Flake said the Australia and US alliance hadn’t been behaving as it previously had because the Trump administration had an abnormal approach.

“What has characterised the Australia-US alliance for 70 years has been a careful, coordinated strategy, at this point, is not taking place in the same way,” Professor Flake said.

“This Australia is facing the same tension that all other treaty allies are facing.

“On the one hand, the relationship with the United States is long standing. It’s really important not just to our past, but to our future. But at the same time you have to be wary about the way things are being done right now.

“It is one thing for Australia or another nation to be asked to support a plan but I don’t know what the plan is.”

He added that Australia had naturally been acting “cautiously”, given the fine line it must walk with its closest ally.

“Given the degree of interoperability and the degree of integration between the US and Australia, this becomes very quickly complicated,” Professor Flake said.

The UN Security Council on Wednesday adopted Resolution 2817 focused specifically on protecting neighbouring countries and global shipping as concerns over the impact on the global economy grows.

The resolution was co-sponsored by a record 135 countries and led by Bahrain and passed with 13 votes in favour, with two abstentions in China and Russia.

The UN has officially demanded that Iran immediately stop all attacks against gulf nations, and condemned the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping corridor.

It has also reaffirmed the “inherent right of individual or collective self-defence” for the Gulf nations under Article 51 of the UN Charter.

The Pentagon has also announced an investigation into reports of a US missile strike on an Iranian girls school, killing over 170 people, mainly students.

Senator Wong said she welcomed the preliminary military inquiry, labelling the school bombing as “tragic”.

“I understand the Pentagon is doing an investigation, and that is appropriate,” she said.