High Court dismisses Russia's challenge over embassy land

The case of a lone Russian diplomat squatting on a Yarralumla block his country no longer has any claim to has hit the highest court in the land – and been dismissed.

The Russian Government launched a High Court challenge to recently passed Australian laws designed to stop Russia from building a new embassy so close to Parliament House.

Since the Australian parliament passed laws to block the embassy from being built, one Russian diplomat took his posting seriously and has been camping on the site refusing to leave.

He can’t be arrested because he has diplomatic immunity, but the Australian Federal Police have been watching the man and the site since last week.

It became a matter of the Government of the Federation of Russia versus the Commonwealth of Australia in a challenge heard this morning (26 June) by Justice Jayne Jagot in the High Court.

Justice Jagot told the court the law of the Federal Parliament had to take precedence while it remains in place.

However, the future of the challenge to the validity of the Australian law remains uncertain due to the weekend’s armed rebellion in Russia against Vladimir Putin’s regime.

Lawyers for the case in Australia were unable to get instructions from Moscow.

Until the challenge was lodged last Friday, the Russian embassy had said nothing about the new Australian laws.

But the lone diplomat’s presence on the block signalled Russia’s disdain for the legislation that was rushed through parliament on 15 June and suggested a legal challenge was on the way.

Australia moved to block the embassy being built over national security concerns, but Russia says it’s their land and the new legislation should be invalidated.

Last week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese mocked the diplomat as “some bloke standing on a blade of grass” posing no threat to national security.

However, a new Russian embassy on the site in question would be a real threat to national security as far as the Australian Government is concerned.

The Russians obviously disagree.

Russia, which has an existing embassy operating in Griffith, took the National Capital Authority to the Federal Court last year when the NCA, which manages diplomatic land and land in Canberra’s parliamentary triangle, cancelled Russia’s lease on the site.

The reason the NCA gave was that work to develop the site had not progressed.

In the Federal Court, both parties consented to keeping the lease alive for the Russians.

Enter the Federal Government, which rushed through its legislation to cancel the lease on national security grounds citing the potential for “interference” by Russian intelligence agents.

Mr Albanese said last week, ahead of the legal challenge being heard, that Australia’s actions in the Federal Parliament were necessary.

“We are confident of our legal position and our national security committee,” he said.

“When we considered this, of course, we anticipated that Russia would not be happy with our response.

“The national security threat that was represented by a Russian embassy on-site is not the same as some bloke standing on a blade of grass. That we don’t see as a threat to our national security.”

The Prime Minister also took the opportunity to repeat Australia’s strong opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“We actually support the law,” he said.

“Russia has not been really good at the law lately.”