Australia is being urged to ban Qatar Airways and sever economic ties with the country, which has been accused of sponsoring terrorism in the Middle East.

Australian Conservatives leader Cory Bernardi said it was time for the federal government to “get tough” and force Qatar to divest itself of its “significant” Australian interests and assets.

His call comes a week after Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt implemented a blockade on Qatar, cutting all diplomatic and economic ties.

Senator Bernardi said the fact Qatar was a “state sponsor of terrorism” had not only been acknowledged by its neighbours but also by the Clinton Foundation in the United States.

He said the Qatari company Hassad Australia owned 300,000 hectares of “prime agricultural land” which it should be forced to sell.

“Why would we allow Qatar to protect its food security when it’s undermining our national security?” he asked.

“It is only appropriate that we ask them not to invest in our country until they get their own house in order.”

Senator Bernardi said Qatar Airways should be banned from Australian air space and the country prevented from sponsoring any Australian sports teams.

“It’s time for us to get tough on protecting our national interest,” he said.

“That means ceasing to turn a blind eye to the activities of nations undermining our national interest and sponsoring our enemies.”

Senator Bernardi’s South Australian counterpart Robert Brokenshire has written to Foreign Minister Julie Bishop urging her to take action on the issue, arguing the country is using Australian assets to create wealth which could then allegedly fund terrorist activities.

Gallacher questions Doha embassy fit-out

Labor senator Alex Gallacher has used the Qatar crisis to once again question why Australia is spending “seven million bucks” expanding its embassy in the capital Doha.

Last year Labor raised concerns about the “excessive” cost of fitting out and furnishing the new 812m²office which was only going to accommodate 15 staff.

Senator Gallacher told the Chamber it was “ironic” Australia was expanding its diplomatic footprint in the country, at the same time as Gulf states were declaring Doha a “hotbed of terrorism”.

“We are going to go into Doha and spend seven million bucks fitting out a floor of a five-star building at precisely the same time as all of the other countries in the region take their diplomatic posts out of Qatar,” he told the Chamber.

-ABC