‘Appalling': Defence expert calls out Albanese government for allowing ‘loophole' that saw billions of dollars spent of Russian crude

Sky News AU

a day ago

A leading defence expert has called out the Albanese government for seemingly allowing more to be spent on Russian crude than what Australia sends to assist Ukraine in the wake of damming new research.
Amid an ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, it is estimated that over AU$3.7 billion worth of oil products derived from Russian crude has been imported by Australia, according to data released by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), while Australia has pledged $1.5 billion in aid to support Ukraine.
Australian Strategic Policy Institue (ASPI) senior analyst Malcom Davis has told Sky News that the Albanese government allowing any amount money to be funnelled to the Kremlin is "appalling".
"The bottom line is we should not be giving money to Russia, a single cent of money to Russia," Mr Davis told Sky News host Sharri Markson on Wednesday.
"It's appalling that this has somehow allowed to happen in the sense that Russia gains funds from Australia which it then uses to essentially buy weapons and military technology to attack Ukraine.
"So at some point the government has to say 'this has to stop' and clamp down and make sure that not a single cent goes to Russia."
Mr Davis also said he thought it was case of oversight on the Albanese government's behalf for not having already taken action on the importation of Russian crude.
"I think it is probably a loophole that they were completely oblivious to, but that's no excuse when you have a situation as dire as the situation in Ukraine," Mr Davis said
"So I think that yes it may be a loophole, they may be able to make excuses, but the very first thing they should be doing is shutting down this loophole as fast as possible."
The oil Australia has been importing is refined overseas—including at the Jamnagar Refinery in India, which has not sanctioned Russian crude—before being legally imported into the Australian market.
This would have handed Russian President Vladimir Putin about AU$1.8 billion in tax revenue, according CREA.
CREA's EU Russia Analyst Vaibhav Raghunandan called it 'a significant failing of Western sanctions', exposing a glaring loophole that lets Russia bypass restrictions.
'Refineries in non-sanctioning countries buying Russian oil are… taking comfort in the knowledge that they will face no action from Western countries,' he said.
Mr Raghunandan said countries like Australia 'look away and continue to import refined products', indirectly funding Russia's invasion of Ukraine.