MEDIA STATEMENT 26 August 2025
As Chair of the Australia-Israel Allies Caucus and Deputy Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, I welcome today’s announcement that the Iranian Ambassador has been expelled and that the Federal Government intends to list the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation.
This follows confirmation from ASIO that Iran directed at least two attacks on Australian soil, the attempted firebombings of the Adass synagogue in December last year and the firebombing of Lewis Continental Kitchen restaurant in Bondi in October 2024.
These are not just attacks on Australia’s Jewish community. They are attacks on all 27 million Australians.
For the first time since World War II, a foreign Ambassador has been expelled from our country. Australian diplomatic staff have also been withdrawn from Tehran. These are momentous steps and I welcome them, but they are steps that should have been taken years ago.
The Coalition has been calling for the IRGC to be listed as a terrorist organisation for more than two years. Senior Coalition members have been calling for diplomatic relations between Australia and Iran to be suspended also for several years. Labor has failed to heed these warnings from the Coalition.
I want to thank Mike Burgess and his ASIO officers, along with all of Australia’s intelligence and law enforcement agencies, for their outstanding work. They are world-class, and they rarely receive the public recognition they deserve. Today’s developments show the essential role they play in protecting Australians every single day.
Going forward, the Government must show this is more than a symbolic gesture. We need stronger counter-terrorism measures, vigilance against foreign interference, and closer cooperation with our Five Eyes partners to ensure Australia is never again exposed to state-directed attacks. At the same time, we must protect the safety and confidence of Australia’s Jewish community, who have borne the brunt of these incidents. Safeguarding Jewish Australians is not just about security, it is about preserving our social cohesion and making clear that hate and foreign-directed violence will never find a foothold in our nation.
The Government’s response today is the right one, but it has come far too late. Iran is a totalitarian regime that has sponsored terror abroad and now directed violence in our own backyard. Listing the IRGC and expelling Iran’s Ambassador should have been done long before these attacks took place.
Australians should be outraged and Australians deserve answers.
END
Media Contact: Brendan West
M | 0402 556 646
E | Brendan.west@aph.gov.au
