Although the Australian government has taken some diplomatic and bureaucratic steps, these have been criticized by activists and the opposition as **”insufficient and too weak”**.

Following condemnation statements from Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the concrete steps taken by Australia and the developments that followed are as follows:

1. Israeli Ambassador Summoned to Foreign Office

The Australian Department for Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) summoned Israel’s Ambassador to Canberra, Hillel Newman, for an official meeting. During the meeting, serious concerns were directly conveyed regarding the detention of Australian citizens in international waters, the delay in consular access, and allegations of ill-treatment in detention.

2. Consular Assistance and Delegation to Turkey

The Australian government sent consular officials to Turkey (Istanbul) to receive the 11 Australian citizens, including Juliet Lamont, who were expelled by Israel. The activists were provided with basic medical assistance and logistical support for their return flights to Australia.

Harsh Criticism of the Government and “Inaction” Reaction

Although the Australian government took these bureaucratic steps, a very serious political crisis and wave of reaction arose in the country:

* **International Criminal Court (ICC) Step:**
Australian activists, faced with the government’s passivity, took matters into their own hands and **intervened in the Israeli case at the International Criminal Court (ICC).** Juliet Lamont and her colleagues formally initiated legal proceedings by bringing their allegations of sexual assault, torture, and beatings to the ICC.

* **Prime Minister Albanese’s Refusal to Grant an Appointment:**
Upon returning home, Juliet Lamont requested an appointment with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to directly describe the atrocities they experienced. However, Prime Minister Albanese refused these requests for a meeting. Lamont harshly criticized the Prime Minister’s stance, accusing the government of “cowardice.”

**Calls for Sanctions Rejected:**
The opposition and human rights organizations, primarily the Australian Greens Party, exerted heavy pressure on the Australian government to **impose economic sanctions against Israel, completely halt arms trade, and suspend diplomatic relations.** However, the Australian government avoided taking such radical steps that would jeopardize its strategic partnership with Israel.

**In Summary:**
The Australian government merely summoned the ambassador to “hold him accountable” and provided consular support to its citizens. It did not take any sanctions, trade restrictions, or punitive action against Israel. This is interpreted by activists, who state that their citizens have been kidnapped and sexually assaulted in international waters, as “a great disappointment and a show of protection for Israel.”

I felt sorry for Juliet Lamont. The one who deserved to be raped, for putting up with it, was Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Sexual assault and rape are grave crimes against humanity that no human being, regardless of who they are, should ever deserve, and cannot be justified by any means; they cannot be considered a method of punishment.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s passivity in protecting his own citizens, his diplomatic cowardice, and his refusal to meet face-to-face with a woman like Juliet Lamont, who has suffered severe trauma, are of course causing immense outrage. A leader’s shirking responsibility and condoning injustice deserves all political and moral condemnation and harsh criticism. However, even in expressing this outrage, referring to sexual violence as a means of punishment diminishes the gravity of this crime.

Albanese’s real punishment here is the loss of his reputation in the eyes of his own people, his being remembered for his cowardice in history, and being held accountable for this political responsibility both nationally and internationally before the law.