Tony Abbott, John Howard earn Putin’s ire, hit with sanctions by Kremlin

London: Former prime ministers Tony Abbott and John Howard are among a list of prominent Australians to be formally sanctioned by the Kremlin, following their efforts to lobby the federal government to divert frozen Russian assets to the rebuilding of Ukraine.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the Russian foreign minister named 27 Australians who the country was “closed” too, which also included former NSW premier Barry O’Farrell and two senior figures within the Australia’s military ranks, Air Vice-Marshal Stephen Chappell and Vice Chief of the Defence Force Robert Chipman.

The statement accused the banned individuals of playing a role in steering Canberra’s “Russophobic policies” and being directly involved in “anti-Russia agenda.” Russia’s relations with Australia has deteriorated to unprecedented lows since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago.

Figures from across a broad spectrum of Australian society were also targeted, including Federal Court judges Michael O’Bryan and Geoffrey Kennett and three former Australian ambassadors to Kyiv, Robert Tyson, Doug Trappett and Bruce Matthews.

Several business figures were also subject to the entry ban, including influential Melbourne financial adviser Chris Garnaut, Business NSW president Lyall Gorman, former CEO of Lifeline Australia Pete Shmigel and Sydney banker Sergey Budkin, founder of Ukraine-based investment bank FinPoint.

“In response to the politically motivated sanctions against Russian individuals and entities imposed by the Australian government as part of the collective West’s Russophobic campaign, entry to our country is closed indefinitely to another 27 Australians, comprising former politicians, executives of Australian companies, university teachers, journalists and public figures,” the statement said.

“Considering the fact that official Canberra does not intend to renounce its anti-Russia line and continues to impose new sanctions, we will update the Russian stop list still further.”

Amid growing criticism of Australia’s lack of military and humanitarian aid, the Supporters of Ukraine Network asked the Albanese government to join other nations in developing legal options for the use of sovereign Russian assets for the nation’s recovery and reconstruction and to update its own laws to ensure that Russian assets can be utilised.

“We make this plea because Australia can punch well above its weight at no cost to the Australian taxpayer,” says the letter, whose signatories included health industry leader Dr Tanya Dus and Reverend Bill Crews, a Uniting Church minister and humanitarian. Both were also sanctioned by the Kremlin on Thursday.

Abbott, who famously vowed to “shirt-front” Russian President Vladimir Putin following the MH17 tragedy, told this masthead he was “proud to be in good company”. He also paid tribute to the “late, great” Stefan Romaniw, co-chair of the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations, who died suddenly this week in Poland after attending a conference in Lithuania.

Romaniw, 68, the former chairperson of the Victorian Multicultural Commission and Multicultural Arts Victoria, had rallied support for country of heritage in recent years against Russian aggression, and was influential in the last push for the Canberra to divert billions in “dirty money” held in Australia since it sanctioned Russian oligarchs and others deemed to have aided and abetted the invasion and the occupation of Ukraine.

The Liberal leader from 2010 to 2015, Abbott has become one of the leading conservative voices globally for Ukraine’s cause, having challenged US House Speaker Mike Johnson and the hold-out Republicans for blocking aid to Kyiv last year.

He told Black Sea Security Forum in Odesa earlier this month that Ukraine was not just fighting for its own freedom, but the freedom of all countries that would be Putin’s subsequent targets.

“This is not a struggle that can be abandoned, just because it’s hard; because it’s much harder on the Ukrainians than it is on us,” he said. “Our best hope of keeping the global peace is not to abandon today’s struggle to prepare for tomorrow’s.”

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