Russia has lost a legal fight to build a new embassy near Australia’s Parliament, with the nation’s top court ruling that Canberra acted within its rights when it cancelled the lease for the site, reports Al Jazeera.
Australia passed legislation in 2023 to mothball the planned embassy building after officials deemed it to pose a security threat.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said at the time that his government decided to revoke the lease over the “specific risk” posed by the site, located about 300 metres (328 yards) from Parliament House.
Russia, which blasted the move as “Russophobic hysteria”, challenged the legislation in court, arguing that it was not valid under the Australian Constitution.
In a unanimous ruling on Wednesday, the High Court found that the cancellation of the lease had been a “valid exercise of the legislative power” to enact laws related to the acquisition of property.
The court, however, ruled that Russia was entitled to compensation after paying about $2m for the 99-year lease in 2008.
The court previously rejected a bid by Moscow to stop its officials from being evicted from the site.
The government introduced new legislation on June 15 to end the Russian lease on the land after intelligence agencies warned the location was a risk to national security.
In a statement following the ruling, Attorney General Michelle Rowland said, “Australia will always stand up for our values and we will stand up for our national security.”
“The government welcomes the High Court’s decision that found the government acted lawfully in terminating the Russian Embassy’s lease,” Rowland said in a statement.
“The government will closely consider the next steps in light of the court’s decision,” Rowland added.
The Russian embassy said it was studying the judgement, according to Australian broadcaster ABC News.
“The Russian side will carefully study the text of the court ruling, which sets a precedent,” an embassy official said in a statement.
Relations between Australia and Russia have been strained for years.
Ties deteriorated sharply after the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which multiple investigations blamed on pro-Russian separatists, and then plunged further after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Bd-pratidin English/TR
