The prime minister, Scott Morrison, has announced that Australia will provide funds for “lethal aid” to Ukraine’s war effort, saying “nothing is off the table” in response to the Russian invasion.
Australia’s commitment was previously restricted to non-lethal military equipment, but on Sunday, Morrison said the government would increase its financial support to Nato to fund the supply of weapons for Ukrainian forces.
“The Australian government will continue to stand up for what is right when it comes to Ukraine,” Morrison said after attending a peace vigil at St Andrew’s church in Lidcombe.
“We are already providing significant support in terms of nonlethal aid, and I’ve just spoken with the defence minister and we’ll be seeking to provide whatever support we can for lethal aid through our Nato partners, particularly the United States and the United Kingdom. We’ll be working through those channels because that’s the most effective way to do it.”
Financial support could go to Ukraine’s military and also to back lethal cyber offensive activities.
Canberra is also considering further diplomatic action against the Russian government as the war in Ukraine escalates, with Morrison saying Australia was considering expelling diplomats and ceasing trade relations.
“Russia must pay a heavy price … and we will continue to add to that price, as we consider every single option that is in front of us,” the prime minister said. “I am taking nothing off the table.”
Australia will boost its humanitarian aid to Ukraine, with Morrison saying visas for Ukrainians were being prioritised, and further support through Australia’s migration system would be forthcoming.
The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, said on Sunday his state “stands ready to assist the commonwealth government to resettle Ukrainians in need”.
“We have a proud Ukrainian community here in Victoria and we would work alongside that community to welcome any Ukrainian families seeking either temporary shelter or a new home.”
Morrison said it was “unhelpful” to conflate what was occurring in Ukraine with China’s ambitions in regards to Taiwan, saying they were “very different” situations.
Earlier, Labor’s shadow foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine should not embolden China as she called for the “strongest possible sanctions” against Moscow by the Australian government.
While declining to comment specifically on whether events in Europe increased the likelihood of China moving on Taiwan, Wong said no country should see Russia’s invasion as “any justification” for challenging the status quo in the region.
“It is the case that what is occurring is relevant to our region, is relevant to the whole world, where peace and security is threatened, it affects all of us everywhere,” Wong told ABC’s Insiders program on Sunday.
“I would reiterate that no country should take any comfort from what is occurring, and unilateral aggressive changes to the status quo can never be justified.
“I wouldn’t get into hypotheticals [but] I simply say this: it is the principle of the region, of Taiwan, the United States and Australia that the status quo in relation to Taiwan can only be resolved peacefully, can only be altered peacefully and that there should be no unilateral changes to the status quo.”
The defence minister, Peter Dutton, speculated last week that Beijing was “probably watching to see what the world reaction is so that they can make their own calculations down the track in relation to Taiwan”. Russia and China have been drawing their alliance closer.
The Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, accused China on Friday of offering Russia a “lifeline” by easing trade relations in the wake of the Ukraine invasion, saying it was an “inexplicable” decision.
Wong also criticised China for not using its position on the UN security council to condemn Russia’s actions, saying it had shirked its responsibilities as a “global leader”.
“It has a special responsibility to make a clear statement that defends the principles around the sovereignty, around territorial integrity, the principles of international law that are contained in the UN charter – it has not done so,” Wong said.
“China has, for decades, as a precept of their foreign policy that they respect sovereignty and territorial integrity. The position they are currently articulating in relation to Ukraine is inconsistent with China’s stated foreign policy position over decades.”
The finance minister, Simon Birmingham, said Russia’s invasion came amid a changing global security environment that had also seen the increased assertiveness of China in Hong Kong and the South China Sea – and the return of a totalitarian Islamic regime in Afghanistan.
“This is a great concern in terms of the far more unstable environment that the world faces, and a very clear reminder of the importance of investing in security and your defences, and in making sure that as nations, we stand together with those who share values and support of the international rules-based order, values in support of freedom and democracy, and that’s certainly what our government has been doing and we’ll continue to do,” Birmingham told Sky News on Sunday.
The senior minister said that there would be an increase to defence spending in next month’s budget, saying it was a “fundamental” part of the government’s plan that had underpinned the Aukus security pact with the UK and US.
Offering what she said was the “national asset” of bipartisan support for the government’s response to the Ukraine crisis, Wong said Labor would support the Coalition’s approach to sanctions, and if deemed necessary, would also back the suspension of two-way trade with Russia.
“We will give bipartisan support to the most comprehensive and heaviest sanctions that Australia can and should take, so I extend that invitation to the government again,” she said.
Wong also committed Labor to a “floor” on defence spending of 2%, saying strategic circumstances had changed since Labor was last in government.
Acknowledging there were “difficult decisions” for the government to make in regards to the expulsion of Russian diplomats, including the ambassador, Wong said Labor was “not looking to find difference” with the government’s approach.
“That is something the government could consider,” she said.
“I know that senator [Marise] Payne has said that the government has made a decision at this stage not to do so because they want to maintain the lines of communication, and I understand that.
“If that is the case, I hope we are using that line of communication to continue to express our view about Russia’s behaviour, that no historical narrative justifies what we are seeing, including, as you have said, the attacks on civilians.”
On Saturday, Queensland LNP senator James McGrath called for Australia to go further, saying weapons should be sent to Ukraine and the Russian ambassador expelled.
Instead of sending thoughts and prayers to Ukraine we should be sending weapons.
— Senator James McGrath (@SenatorMcGrath) February 26, 2022
Instead of sanctions we should be confiscating the assets of Putin’s regime and giving them to Ukraine.
The Russian Ambassador should be expelled and put on a plane today. pic.twitter.com/kZscSZqsHL
“Instead of sending thoughts and prayers to Ukraine we should be sending weapons,” McGrath said.
The Australian government has said it is providing cyber assistance and the provision of “non-lethal military equipment” through Nato partners.
Payne, the foreign affairs minister, said on Saturday that the option of expelling Russian diplomats “remained a live option”.
“It is not something that we are considering currently. It enables us to have a direct line of communication with the Russian government,” she said.
On Sunday, the Australian Greens said the government needed to strengthen sanctions against Russia by boycotting imports of crude oil from the country.
According to a research paper from the federal parliamentary library, Australia imported about $86m worth of crude oil originating from Russia last financial year, about 1% of Australia’s imports.
The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, said that while Australia’s Russian oil imports were small, a boycott of Russian oil and gas “could start the ball rolling for the rest of the world”.
“Russia is a petrostate and Putin’s power comes from oil and gas – Australia should stop buying Russian oil and hit Putin where it hurts,” Bandt said.
