Australia's Shift on Iran Strikes: A New Era?

0:00On March 4th, here's the latest out of Sydney. Australia's Prime Minister, Anthony Avanese, once strongly defended the rules-based global order in a speech to the United Nations. He warned that letting any nation ignore international law erodes everyone's sovereignty and urged middle powers like Australia not to stand by during crisis. But now, with recent United States and Israel strikes on Iran, the government has shifted to a bystander role, avoiding judgment on whether those actions broke international law. The stock response from officials is that it's a matter for the United States and Israel. This comes, despite Australia's longstanding opposition to the Iranian regime, which it has sanctioned for supporting terrorism and anti-Semitic plots. Here, Australia also sees eye-to-eye with the United States on preventing Iran from getting nuclear weapons, and as a key ally under the Aqqas pact, backing. African moves carries little domestic risk. Reactions in Australia show a bipartisan acceptance of this change.

1:02Labor leaders, even from the left, mostly support the strikes with little dissent at the top levels. One back-benture called them clearly outside international law, but that's not the main view. On the opposition side, figures like Andrew Hastie, praised Canadian leader Mark Carney's recent speech declaring the old-world order dead, saying, Post-war war two system we knew for 80 years is gone. This marks a departure from Labor's past stance against the 2003 Iraq War for lacking a United Nations mandate. Now, both major parties seem to agree, middle powers must adapt to a reality where big nations face no constraints. Looking ahead, Australia hopes to team up with like-minded countries like Canada to protect shared interests. But this week's choices could weaken future criticisms of breaches by nations like Russia or China, as reality has reshaped priorities. This episode is supported by our sponsor, C Details in the Description, Headphones in a Pillow, Simple Idea, Surprisingly Addictive, S-O-L-I-SoliPillow.com