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Foreign Minister Marise Payne has not ruled out a ban on arms exports to Saudi Arabia, nor sanctions, amid widespread reaction against the kingdom more to the murder of a journalist.
At a hearing on Senate estimates in Canberra on Wednesday, Green leader Richard Di Natale asked Payne "when does Australia take a stand", banning sales to the US? Export and imposing penalties.
Payne responded that the Australian government is closely following the investigation into the "horrible" death of Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi.
"All options are on the table, in terms of Australia's respective response," Payne told the audience. "We recognize that it is an extremely serious situation and of a very large order of magnitude."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced this week that her government would not approve new arms exports to the kingdom.
Payne confirmed that she had discussed the issue with her European counterparts in recent days.
Interviewed by Labor Senator Alex Gallacher, Defense has admitted to having approved 14 military aircraft and services in Saudi Arabia in the last two years.
Seven physical exports and three information – related exports were recorded last year. So far this year, four physical military exports have been approved to Riyadh.
The ministry official, Tom Hamilton, refused to disclose the value of exports or the nature of the goods for reasons of "commercial confidentiality".
Hamilton pointed out that the Defense had badessed a range of factors when reviewing approvals, including international obligations, human rights, national and regional security, foreign policy, and equipment at risk. , likely to be used to commit abuses.
The figures come amid ongoing criticisms of Australia's defense industry ties with Saudi Arabia and ongoing atrocities in the Yemen conflict.
Hamilton could not categorically rule out the use of Australian military equipment during the war in Yemen – what the United Nations has called "the worst humanitarian crisis in the world". He insisted that the department was "very concerned about the news".
"Military equipment, by its nature, will contribute to the capability of a military force and will often contribute to conflict," Hamilton said.
But he added that the permits were not approved if they were considered likely to violate international obligations.
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, rejected an arms ban, while the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, said his government would go ahead with a contract of export of Saudi armored vehicles.
Saudi Arabia is the world's largest importer of defense equipment and services by value, according to a research group called IHS Markit.
In September, Defense Minister Christopher Pyne said the federal government hoped to negotiate a memorandum of understanding on defense cooperation with Saudi Arabia.
Hamilton said the discussions were in their infancy and that "it was not a priority at the moment".
He declined to say whether Saudi Arabia or Australia had initiated the deal but promised to provide a written response at a later date.
In January, the Turnbull government unveiled a plan for Australia to become one of the top 10 global arms exporters in the next decade.
Hamilton stated at the hearing that Defense was still developing transparency measures around this strategy and needed to strike a balance between liability and commercial interests.
Last week, Prime Minister Scott Morrison withdrew Australian officials from a major investment summit in Riyadh.
Save the Children has called on the Australian government to stop providing military badets to Saudi Arabia until it ends illegal air strikes. The charity found that 22.2 million Yemenis, including 11.3 million children, needed humanitarian badistance.
"Australia should use its place on the world stage to end human rights abuses, rather than providing the means to extend them," said spokesman Mat Tinkler.
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