By Ardeshir Gholipour
To begin: I am an Iranian-Australian who has made Australia my home for 26 years after the regime in Iran made it impossible for me to remain. Nevertheless, I love my adopted home and tell people that I live in the best country on earth. Which is why I write to you now.
I have no time whatsoever for the hideous Iranian regime but am shocked and stunned by Australia’s involvement in the downing of IRIS Dena – the Quiet Death. I wrote to the High Commissioner of Sri Lanka in Canberra, congratulating her on the humanity demonstrated by the Sri Lankan Navy in rescuing the sailors of the Dena. But now I discover that Australian servicemen were on the US submarine that left the sailors of the Dena to drown.
The government takes the stance that these Australian servicemen were ‘observers’, left over from an AUKUS exercise off the Indian coast but Senator Shoebridge’s claims clarify the role of submariners in attack mode and therefore implicate the Australians as complicit in the attack. When a submarine is in combat mode, all staff are ‘on deck’. There are no observers quietly reading a book!
My question to the Prime Minister is therefore two-fold.
Did he know about the attack before it took place? And if so, why didn’t he say anything about it? And if he did know, why is he denying knowledge now? If he didn’t know, he needs to stand up to the US government who have put Australia in this position. Forget about the risks of increasing tariffs, there is a moral issue here and Australia needs to stand up to the bullying of Trump.
If he did know, Albanese needs to tell the Australian people that his government has been complicit in a serious breach of international law. He needs to backtrack on the motherhood statements made during Mark Carney’s visit and admit that he is a supporter of Trump’s mission in the Middle East. If he doesn’t say anything now, he will be forever beholden to the whims of Donald Trump and the US government. The ‘middle powers’ that Albanese and Carney talked about will have no say in the world order whatsoever. Let’s not give the US a bargaining chip: “You supported our strike and therefore …”
And then there is the issue of national security. Australia’s position with India, Sri Lanka and other nations on the Indian Ocean is now compromised. How can Australia be trusted as a partner after withholding information?
I write this letter as a wholehearted supporter of the Australian democratic system. It is a system that seeks to root out corruption and injustice and holds democratically elected leaders to account. I don’t care about which party is in power. I only care about accountability and honesty. This is what I am asking for here.
Please support me in finding honest answers to my questions and in holding the democratically elected Australian government to account.
Kind regards,
Ardeshir
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