The Russian government has launched a high court challenge to laws designed to stop it from building a new embassy close to Parliament House in Canberra.
The federal government last week passed legislation to cancel the Russian government’s lease on the Yarralumla site, citing national security concerns over its proximity to parliament.
The Russian embassy has remained silent in recent days on the stoush but Australian officials were expecting a legal challenge.
On Friday afternoon, a spokesperson for the home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, confirmed that Russia had informed the Australian government of a high court challenge.
“The Russian Federation has informed the commonwealth of its intention to commence legal proceedings in the high court, in which they will challenge the validity of the legislation on constitutional grounds,” the spokesperson said.
“Russia’s challenge to the validity of the law is not unexpected. This is part of the Russian playbook.”
The application for an injunction is listed to be heard on Monday morning.
Earlier on Friday, the Australian newspaper revealed that a lone Russian diplomat remained at the site, occupying it to stymy attempts to take the land back. Federal police have been monitoring the man but are unable to arrest him due to his diplomatic immunity.
The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, described the man as “some bloke standing on a blade of grass” who posed no threat to national security.
A federal police vehicle remained outside the Yarralumla block late Friday morning. The Russian squatter did not show his face to answer questions from a media contingent at the perimeter fence – instead remaining in a small demountable building near the site’s entrance.
Asked about the standoff on Friday morning, the prime minister said he was not concerned and was confident the plans would withstand any legal challenge.
“We are confident of our legal position and our national security committee, and of course members, when we considered this of course we anticipated that Russia would not be happy with our response,” he said.
“The national security threat that was represented by a Russian embassy on-site is not the same as some bloke standing on a blade of grass that we don’t see as a threat to our national security.”
Russia has previously used the courts to stop the cancellation of the lease. Last year, the National Capital Authority, which manages diplomatic land and land in Canberra’s parliamentary triangle, cancelled the embassy’s lease because it had not progressed works on the site quickly enough. Russia took the NCA to the federal court and the parties consented to orders allowing the Russian government to continue its lease.
The federal government then rushed through legislation to cancel the lease on national security grounds. It described the presence of an embassy at the site as a national security challenge. The proximity of the site to parliament, the government said, could enable “potential interference” by Russian intelligence.
Albanese said Russia had not shown any respect for the rule of law recently, referencing its invasion of Ukraine.
“We actually support the law. Russia has not been really good at the law lately,” he said. “We will stand up for our national security, and a bloke standing in the cold on a bit of grass in Canberra is not a threat to our national security.”
The Russian government maintains an existing diplomatic presence at its existing embassy in Griffith.
Last week’s legislation was introduced by the home affairs minister on Thursday morning and passed the Senate an hour later. O’Neil said at the time that the law had been straightforward and related to a single piece of land.
“The principal problem with the proposed second Russian embassy in Canberra is its location,” she said. “This location sits directly adjacent to Parliament House.”
