Russian squatter packs up as High Court rejects embassy challenge
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A diplomat who had been squatting at the site of a proposed Russian embassy in Canberra has abandoned the plot after the High Court threw out a challenge to the Albanese government’s decision to terminate Russia’s lease of the land.
The Russian official left the site in a silver diplomatic vehicle on Monday and did not say anything to reporters gathered at the area.
A Russian diplomat leaves the proposed Russian embassy site deemed to close to Parliament House, Canberra.Credit: Nine
The diplomat was wearing a red beanie and puffer jacket while carrying a Hype bag containing groceries and other supplies.
He spent several nights sleeping inside a demountable building at the site despite frosty temperatures in Canberra that fell as low as -7 degrees in the past week.
The unnamed official enjoys diplomatic immunity in Australia, a status that would have complicated any efforts by police to forcibly evict him.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese dismissed concerns about the official’s presence at the site last week, saying that “some bloke standing on a blade of grass” did not constitute a national security threat.
Earlier on Monday the High Court quashed a Russian attempt to stop the Albanese government from terminating its lease on the site, less than a kilometre from Parliament House.
The government passed emergency legislation earlier this month, with the support of the opposition, to extinguish the lease on the grounds it posed a threat to national security.
Justice Jayne Jagot said arguments made to hold on to the embassy site were weak and there was no foundation for granting the injunction.
Albanese welcomed the decision, telling reporters in Canberra on Monday: “The court has made clear that there is no legal basis for a Russian presence to continue on the site at this time, and we expect the Russian Federation to act in accordance with the court’s ruling.”
The proposed site, which is adjacent to the current Chinese embassy, would have made the Russian embassy among the closest diplomatic posts to Parliament House.
The Russian government was granted a 99-year lease for the plot of land, in the upmarket suburb of Yarralumla, in 2008 but failed to progress plans to develop the site.
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