80 seats secured for Australians on flights leaving Lebanon today

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has accused the federal government of not backing Israel strongly enough. The swipe comes as Australians seeking to leave Lebanon are told to do so immediately.

Transcript

00:00So, we've seen just there the comments being made by, you know, international leaders.

00:08But here in Australia, there is some disagreement over the language being used to describe how

00:18Israel should respond to that missile attack we saw earlier this week from Iran.

00:23So, in the last couple of days, we've seen the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, and

00:29the Defence Minister, Richard Miles, say that, primarily, Israel does have a right to defend

00:36itself.

00:37However, the language that both of those ministers, the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister,

00:43have used, they have also spoken about the importance of de-escalating.

00:48They've also indicated their support for a 21-day curfew in the region.

00:53It's this part of the rhetoric being used by the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister

00:59that the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, seems to have taken some issue with.

01:05As far as I can see it, he doesn't think that it is as unequivocal support for Israel as

01:11is necessary at such a time.

01:15He's accusing the Albanese government of an appeasement strategy, even saying that the

01:21Albanese government is putting its domestic political agenda above Australia's national security.

01:29Let's go back and have a listen to what it is that Defence Minister Richard Miles is

01:34saying about what Israel should do in response to its attack from Iran.

01:42We are not about to deny countries rights to defend themselves.

01:48That said, we have added our voice to an international call led by the United States

01:55for a 21-day ceasefire and we continue to do that.

02:01And all the Australians in Lebanon are being asked to leave.

02:04How is the government helping them to do that?

02:08So we've had a press conference earlier today from the Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, who's

02:12outlined what the Australian government is doing to help the 1,700 Australians in Lebanon

02:19who've registered their interest in leaving Lebanon with the Department of Foreign Affairs

02:24and Trade, or DFAT as it's called.

02:28What we know is that there are around 80 seats on a commercial flight that have been made

02:32available today.

02:34Interestingly, we saw the Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, commenting that around 35, so

02:40less than half of those 80 seats that had been made available on today's flight had

02:47been filled at the time that she was giving that press conference.

02:50And it was perhaps for that reason that we saw her rhetoric really ramping up, saying,

02:56and I'll just look at my notes here, do not wait, don't delay.

02:59If you are an Australian living in Lebanon and you want to get out, the advice from Penny

03:05Wong is to not wait, to not delay.

03:09Even if you can't find the perfect route that you want to get out of Lebanon, with such

03:16an unpredictable situation as we're seeing at the moment in Lebanon, Ros, Penny Wong's

03:21advice is just take the first flight out there.

03:25Do not wait, don't delay.

03:27We also know that there are 500 seats that have been organised by the Australian government

03:33for this Saturday.

03:35And really interestingly, there is an RAAF plane that has been stationed in Cyprus as

03:43a backup plan.

03:44So what the Australian government appears to be doing at the moment is assisting Australians

03:51to get out of Lebanon by securing them seats on commercial or other flights coming out

03:57of Beirut Airport.

03:59But in the event that Beirut Airport does close, there is an RAAF plane there in Cyprus.

04:07Presumably it would be the preference to not have to use that and to get all the Australians

04:14in Lebanon who want to get out via commercial flights, but it is a backup option.

04:19Ros, I do just want our viewers to see the urgency with which Foreign Minister Penny

04:24Wong is delivering her message today.

04:27This is a clip from her press conference earlier.

04:31My message to Australians in Lebanon is do not wait.

04:35If you are able to secure a seat on a flight, please take that seat.

04:40If you have a seat on today's flight, don't delay.

04:44Now is not the time for you to wait and see, now is the time to leave.

04:50Foreign Minister Penny Wong, her advice there, now is not the time for you to wait, now is

04:55the time to leave.

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