Australia’s High Court has ruled in favour of the country’s government in cancelling the lease for a property to be used for a new Russian embassy.
The property is located 300 metres from Australia’s Parliament; Russia had signed a 99-year lease in 2008, paying $2m at the time.
However, in 2023, the Australian government pushed through leisglation to cancel the project. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that there was a “specific risk” from the embassy, given its location near the Parliament.
By that time, Russia was involved it a war with Ukraine, with Australia backing the latter. Previously, tensions between the countries had risen over the shooting down by Russian-backed forces of MH17 in 2017, in which 27 Australians died.
Russia retorted that the cancellation arose from “Russophobic hysteria”, and approached the courts to overturn the decision.
The Court, however, found that the Australia had engaged in “valid exercise of the legislative power”. It deemed Russia entitled to compensation for the money it had paid for the lease.
Attorney General Michelle Rowland said in reaction to the ruling that “Australia will always stand up for our values and we will stand up for our national security.”
Meanwhile, Australia’s head of intelligence Mike Burgess has warned that cybergroups linked to the Chinese government have been attempting to access critical infrastructure. These included water, power, transport and telecoms infrastructure. This was aimed at positioning themselves for future sabotage and espionage.
[image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Parliament_House_Canberra_%28281004929%29.jpg]