Wednesday, 4 February 2026

 David LIMBRICK (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (18:54): (2277) My adjournment matter this evening is for the attention of the Minister for Police. In 2022 a young Kurdish woman named Mahsa Amini was arrested by the morality police in Iran for a violation of the hijab laws. This led to a mass movement of women called the Woman, Life, Freedom movement. For simply calling for their right to live freely, many women were arrested, raped and executed. In December last year the bubbling tensions in Iran turned into what might be described as a mass uprising, with large-scale protests calling for the abolition of the Islamic theocracy and a transition to democracy. Whilst clear information is hard to determine, credible reports suggest that tens of thousands of people may have been killed in crackdowns on the protests, mostly over the course of a few days earlier this year. Victorians with Iranian heritage have been protesting in solidarity with the protest movement in Iran. In fact they are out the front of Parliament right now. A few weeks ago I met with some of these people and listened to their stories and concerns. The key concern of the protest movement is related to foreign affairs and is beyond the jurisdiction of this Parliament.

There were, however, other concerns that are very relevant to things happening here in Victoria. I was told about examples of people being threatened, harassed and intimidated by representatives of the Iranian regime in Melbourne. This included anonymous phone calls, actual death threats and possibly stalking. These threats are not idle. Director-general of UK intelligence agency MI5 Sir Ken McCallum stated at their annual threat update last year that they had interrupted 20 potentially lethal Iran-backed plots, mostly targeting British Iranians. When people come here, make Australia their home and live peaceful lives, they deserve the same protection as anyone else from foreign adversaries. We already know that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has the means to direct attacks here, after the arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue. My request for the Minister for Police is to work with Victoria Police to ensure that security concerns of Iranian Australians are taken seriously and examine whether there can be new processes established for escalating security incidents either through Victoria Police or with their federal counterparts.