This prominent Melburnian thinks Australia is failing Ukraine. He’s trying to fill the gaps

“You could odor incinerated bodies successful destroyed APCs [armoured unit carriers] and piles of burned-out cars on roadsides.”

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Most of Ukraine has since returned to a much mean beingness and rocket and drone attacks are chiefly confined to the warfare front.

Baillieu has been fundraising for soldiers and their families. He has successful the past helped by sponsoring a van that runs supplies to the front, arsenic good arsenic prosthetics for soldiers injured from excavation blasts.

“I person a beardown consciousness of close and incorrect and this is arsenic violative to close and incorrect arsenic you tin get. The unprovoked penetration of a peaceful country,” helium said. “Ukraine is not a cleanable democracy, it’s not the cleanable society. But it is trying to get amended and better.

“The Russian penetration successful February 2022 was an abomination against Western values and against the dignity of the quality spirit.”

He understands his travel arsenic a backstage national to a war-torn state mightiness beryllium criticised. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) advises Australians not to question to Ukraine owed to the volatile situation and conflict.

Defence Minister Richard Marles visits Ukrainian troops extracurricular Lviv, adjacent the Polish border, successful April.Credit: Department of Defence

“Everyone has a antithetic tolerance for hazard and acquisition successful however to justice what you tin and can’t do,” Baillieu said.

Defence Minister Richard Marles visited Ukraine past period and to denote Australia’s $100 cardinal subject assistance package, including backing to enactment drones.

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Australia has provided much than $1 cardinal successful subject and humanitarian assistance since the warfare began successful February 2022, including a $50 cardinal assistance successful February.

But Baillieu said the latest authorities assistance bundle to Ukraine was “a trivial magnitude of further aid”.

“One 100 cardinal dollars. That’s astir $3.90 for each Australian. We tin and should bash vastly better,” helium says.

A DFAT spokeswoman said Australia remained unwavering successful its enactment for the Ukrainian authorities and people.

“Since Russia’s brutal invasion, the Australian authorities is arrogant to person contributed much than $1 cardinal successful important defence and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine,” she said.

But Australia has not reopened its embassy successful Ukraine, dissimilar much than 60 nations including Canada, the United States and Japan.

‘One 100 cardinal dollars. That’s astir $3.90 for each Australian. We tin and should bash vastly better.’

Labor MPs person criticised the authorities for keeping Australian diplomats, including ambassador Paul Lehmann, successful the Polish superior of Warsaw.

“In my view, it’s a nationalist disgrace. It’s a snub for the value of Ukraine. It is not a information contented – it is simply a governmental issue,” Baillieu said.

DFAT said the presumption of the embassy was nether regular review. “Any determination connected a imperishable instrumentality of our embassy to Kyiv would beryllium based connected thorough information and enactment wellness and information hazard assessments,” the spokeswoman said.

Baillieu says the warfare successful Gaza has wiped the warfare successful Ukraine disconnected the quality cycle.

“I americium not going to diminish the warfare successful Gaza. The warfare successful Ukraine is adjacent much important geopolitically due to the fact that if [Russian President Vladimir] Putin succeeds successful Ukraine, it destabilises the full of Europe,” helium said.

“It’s the benignant of warfare from the darkest chapters of 20th-century history.

“Australia should attraction profoundly astir that due to the fact that we don’t person a defence unit that is capable to support ourselves. We trust connected a rules-based order.”

He urged Australians to donate to Ukraine via the Red Cross and Caritas Australia.

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