Statement | UK Govenment declares Wagner a terrorist organisation while Australia lags behind

MEDIA STATEMENT

Senator James Paterson
Shadow Minister for Home Affairs
Shadow Minister for Cyber Security
Liberal Senator for Victoria

Wednesday 6 September 2023

UK Government declares Wagner a terrorist organisation while Australia lags behind

I welcome the decision today by the UK Government to proscribe the Wagner Group as a terrorist organisation. This will make it illegal within the UK to be a member of the group or support its activities, and allows the UK government to seize its assets.

The UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman put it succinctly when she said the Wagner Group "are terrorists, plain and simple – and this proscription order makes that clear in UK law." It follows a Biden Administration decision to designate Wagner a significant transnational criminal organisation in January.

I again call on the Albanese Government to act immediately in taking the steps necessary for Australia to join our allies and formally list the Wagner Group as a terrorist organisation. The Coalition stands ready to assist with any legislative changes required to take this action without further delay. 

On 22 May I wrote to the Minister for Home Affairs and the Attorney-General asking them to investigate the listing of the Wagner Group as a terrorist organisation in light of its complicity in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its extensive track record of abhorrent human rights abuses and offering the full support of the Coalition in doing so. 

Australia could have led the world and acted early to rightly recognise the Wagner Group as a terrorist organisation and send a clear message that we will not tolerate violent acts of terrorism no matter where in the world they are occurring. Labor’s complacency has instead seen Australia lag behind our allies with no explanation for the government’s inaction. 

The Albanese Government needs to explain when and how it plans to list Wagner a terrorist organisation to ensure Australia stands shoulder to shoulder with its allies in taking action against the abhorrent conduct of the Wagner Group.

ENDS

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