As Canberra’s envoy prepares to attend investment forum in Riyadh, crossbenchers demand no involvement

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A trio of crossbench senators has failed in their bid to encourage Australia to boycott a major investment forum in Saudi Arabia next week as the kingdom faces a backlash over the presumed death of a journalist at the Saudi consulate in Turkey.

The Saudis are reportedly on the cusp of acknowledging Jamal Khashoggi’s death was the result of an interrogation that went wrong, according to a CNN report.

How much damage can Saudi Arabia do to the global economy? Read more

Riyadh will next week host a three-day summit called the Future Investment Initiative – dubbed “Davos in the Desert” in a reference to the annual gathering of leaders from politics and business at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.

Google, Uber and JP Morgan are among the international corporations who have pulled out and Financial Times, Bloomberg, CNN and CNBC have withdrawn as media sponsors.

Saudi Arabia’s ambitious Vision 2030 project – the brainchild of the kingdom’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – is heavily dependent on overseas investment.

Australia’s former trade minister, Steve Ciobo, attended last year’s event but a spokesman for his successor, Simon Birmingham, told Guardian Australia that the minister would not be going.

A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman confirmed Australia’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Austrade’s general manager for the Middle East would attend.

“The government has not funded a delegation of Australian companies to attend,” the spokesman said.

Three crossbench senators – Rex Patrick from Centre Alliance, Peter Whish-Wilson from the Greens, and the Australian Conservatives’ Cory Bernardi – pushed for a complete Australian boycott of the event.

But their motion failed to gain traction.

Whish-Wilson expressed his disappointment, noting Tuesday was the 43rd anniversary of the Balibo Five – a group of Australian journalists were murdered in East Timor in 1975.

“Jamal Khashoggi was a critic of the Saudi regime and he was murdered for also doing his job,” Whish-Wilson told the Senate.

“Journalism is not a crime.”

Liberal frontbencher Anne Ruston pointed out the federal government had expressed concerns over the reporter’s disappearance.

“Australia’s views on this matter have been made clear to the Saudi officials through formal channels,” she said.

Earlier Patrick said defence department officials should also be thinking about Australia’s appetite for military exports to Saudi Arabia.

“One would hope they are very cognisant of what has happened and they consider the events that have taken place [in Ankara] in their deliberations on any future exports,” he told Guardian Australia.

“What further measures Australia should take – in terms of diplomatic relations, intelligence and law enforcement cooperation, economic ties … should be determined in the light of the evidence and the Saudi government’s response.”

The Australian government has received criticism from human rights groups such as Amnesty International over secrecy cloaking military equipment sales to Saudi Arabia, in light of the ongoing bloodshed in Yemen.

Defence granted 16 licences to export military goods to Saudi Arabia last year.

Marise Payne, the foreign minister, has said Australia is “deeply concerned” about the disappearance of the Washington Post columnist.

Donald Trump has speculated that “rogue killers” may have been responsible for the death.

Khashoggi had visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul for an appointment related to his upcoming wedding. He has not been seen or heard from since.

Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and the Saudi monarch announced on Sunday night that a deal had been made for a “joint working group” to examine the case.

Reporters Without Borders ranks Saudi Arabia 169th out of 180 countries for press freedom.