Russians launch legal attack on Canberra over embassy lock-out
Russia has opened up a new battlefront, this time against the Australian government over a small block of land on a quiet street in Yarralumla earmarked for its new embassy.
Russia has opened up a new battlefront, this time against the Australian government over a small block of land on a quiet street in Yarralumla earmarked for its new embassy.
The Russian Federation launched legal action against the Commonwealth of Australia on Wednesday after a 99-year lease for the location of a new embassy in Canberra was ripped up in August.
The National Capital Authority told Russia it had to vacate the site, which is close to Parliament House, claiming the embassy was not being built quickly enough.
In documents filed in the Federal Court, Russia said it had already spent $US5.5m ($8m) on construction and sought an order prohibiting anyone from the Australian government entering or taking possession of the property.
Russia is seeking a declaration that the termination of lease issued is invalid and an order restraining the interference of Russia’s “quiet enjoyment” of the land.
Russia was granted a lease in 2008, with works and building approvals to build the embassy issued in 2011. The work was to be completed within three years.
In August the NCA said it had advised Russia of the termination because the project had not been completed.
“Unfinished works detract from the overall aesthetic, importance and dignity of the area reserved for diplomatic missions and foreign representation in the national capital,” Sally Barnes, chief executive of the NCA, said.
“With limited blocks currently available for diplomatic purposes, unless a country can demonstrate a willingness and ability to develop the site, the NCA supports a policy of ‘use it or lose it’.”
The ruling also denies Vladimir Putin’s government the opportunity to build a modern facility, with greater espionage potential, on the block at a later date. The Australian previously revealed Russia had sought to bring in its own contractors to check the work of local firms.
But the Department of Home Affairs denied entry to the contractors, believing they would include members of Russia’s Federal Security Service, tasked with ensuring the site was free of listening devices.
In the mid-1990s, it was revealed Australian and US intelligence operatives had for years conducted a sophisticated bugging operation against the Chinese embassy, after installing an elaborate network of fibre optic-linked devices in the embassy’s walls some years earlier.
In the court documents obtained by The Australian, Russia says at the time of entering the lease $2,750,000 was paid to NCA for a land premium, and it had spent $US5.5m in the first stage of the construction.
The works are not complete but there is a building on site.
After the NCA provided the Russian ambassador in April with a notice of consideration that the lease may be terminated, he replied, providing an explanation partly blaming NCA and the commonwealth.
The ambassador also gave a commitment that the construction of the embassy would be completed.
Time to get rid of Indigenous reconciliation police
The separatist spirit of the voice to parliament lives on in thousands of the nation’s corporate action plans.
The legacy of the Indigenous voice: hope, division and paralysis
Now at its first anniversary point, the voice represents a tragic saga for Aboriginal Australians. The wounds are still fresh – and there is little sign of leadership to identify a way forward.