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senate vote 2023-08-09#7
Edited by
mackay staff
on
2023-12-29 12:30:45
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Title
Matters of Urgency — Israel- Matters of Urgency - Israel - Support Israel and condemn Labor Government
Description
<p class="speaker">Matt O'Sullivan</p><p>I inform the Senate that the President has received the following letter, dated 9 August 2023, from Senator Chandler:</p><p class="italic">Pursuant to standing order 75, I give notice that today I propose to move 'That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:</p><p class="italic">The urgent need to condemn the Albanese Labor Government's latest broken election promise on Israel, as a result of a backroom factional deal ahead of Labor's national conference, which unilaterally changes Australia's position, and does nothing to advance Australia's long-standing position to support a lasting two-state solution, in which Israel and Palestine co-exist in peace and security within internationally recognised borders.</p><p>Is the proposal supported?</p><p class="italic"> <i>More than the number of senators required by the standing orders having risen in their places—</i></p><p>With the concurrence of the Senate, I shall ask the clerks to set the clock in line with the informal arrangements made by the whip.</p> <p class="speaker">Claire Chandler</p><p>I move:</p><p class="italic">That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:</p><p class="italic">The urgent need to condemn the Albanese Labor Government's latest broken election promise on Israel, as a result of a backroom factional deal ahead of Labor's national conference, which unilaterally changes Australia's position, and does nothing to advance Australia's long-standing position to support a lasting two-state solution, in which Israel and Palestine co-exist in peace and security within internationally recognised borders.</p><p>I rise to speak on this urgency motion in relation to the Labor Party and the Albanese government playing factional politics with Australia's foreign policy and national security. Once again, yesterday the Labor government chose to play up to hard-left anti-Israel elements within its own party by rewriting our nation's foreign policy. We saw this happen back in October last year when the Labor government's refusal to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel was praised by terror groups including Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas.</p><p>Now, the Labor government has once again done a dirty factional deal to appease the far-left in their own party, a factional deal that has happened not because of any policy imperative but purely on a basis of trying to manage the political appearance of the Prime Minister and his cabinet colleagues. For many weeks now, we have known that something like this was coming. Labor sources had been talking openly about cutting various deals on foreign policy to get through their national conference next week without criticism of the Albanese government, and there is no question whatsoever that what was announced yesterday was one such dirty factional deal.</p><p>Labor MPs have freely admitted as such, and I sincerely hope that Labor senators are not going to come in here today and deny that this is what has happened. A Labor MP was quoted directly in today's <i>Australian</i> confirming that this decision was a factional deal, saying:</p><p class="italic">A Right faction source said the new policy represented an "olive branch" to Left-wing critics to "minimise the argy-bargy next week".</p><p>That was in reference to their national conference. This Labor MP confirmed that, as part of the factional deal, 'the government will beef-up its language'.</p><p>Just as its faction-driven refusal to recognise the Israeli capital was welcomed by Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas so too will this decision be welcomed by dangerous organisations and regimes, which are not just violently opposed to the existence of Israel but are also violently against the West, including Australia—organisations like Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the IRGC, which fund those organisations and have, in recent months, been ramping up support and pressure on those organisations to commit terror attacks against Israel.</p><p>The Albanese government has shown its willingness to spring into action within weeks and change our foreign policy to manage the media around its national conference and appease the anti-Israel elements—or is it now a majority?—within the Labor Party. In contrast, it is now six months and counting and the Albanese government still hasn't managed to respond to a Senate committee report on the emergency human rights situation in Iran. Not only does the Islamic republic regime commit atrocities against its own people and against its critics abroad; its leaders openly state their desire for Israel to disappear off the face of the earth. I can't help but observe the speed at which the Albanese government will move to adopt the anti-Israel position of its left faction purely because a motion is anticipated to appear at their national conference next week compared to six months of refusing to respond to a report of this Senate urging action in response to the abhorrent behaviour of the Islamic Republic of Iran.</p><p>Where is the demand from the left faction within the Labor Party for the Albanese government to respond to recommendations of the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee on human rights abuses in Iran? I haven't heard those calls. I don't believe there's a motion related to that at the national conference next week. Instead, what we get from this government is a fractional deal which will only serve to embolden the Islamic republic regime in its sponsorship and encouragement of terrorism against Israel.</p> <p class="speaker">Deborah O'Neill</p><p>I'll commence by saying Australia is a friend of peace. Australia is a friend of Israel. Australia is a friend of the people of the occupied Palestinian territories. I am a friend of peace. I am a friend of Israel. And I am a friend of the people of the occupied Palestinian territories. I'm also the chair of the friendship group here in the parliament for the State of Israel, and I'm very pleased to work alongside Ms Vamvakinou, in the other place, who is the Chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Palestine. It is in proper, careful dialogue that we will do honour to our nation and strive towards peace.</p><p>Peace can only reign in the Middle East if there are many of us all across the world who share the positions that I just articulated. My fellow senators, this is where we should be setting our sights: on the worthy goal of peace in the Middle East—such an elusive but worthy goal—rather than on what is happening here this afternoon, which sets its sights only on descent, discontent and division. The Australians have a right to expect better of us. This is why the motion is such a disappointment.</p><p>I'd like to address the substance of the urgency motion put forward by Senator Chandler, and I do so as a senator for New South Wales but also in my role as the Chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Israel—a Labor senator. I want to remind people that it was Doc Evatt who, as President of the General Assembly from 1949 at the United Nations, served as chair of the ad hoc committee on the Palestinian question. He said, 'It was, in my view, something in the nature of a miracle that the nation of Israel became a reality.' We need to work with others multilaterally to continue to look for peace in the Middle East.</p><p>The recent announcement by Foreign Minister Penny Wong returns the Australian government to its stated position of the Israel settlements as illegal under international law and it sees the readoption of the term 'occupied Palestinian territories'. The Albanese government view this alteration as maintaining consistency with our multilateral partners on the United Nations Security Council, with the European Union and also with the United Kingdom. New Zealand uses these terms, as do many of our other international partners. The government also views this rhetorical return as maintaining the longstanding classification that was shared by both major parties prior to 2014.</p><p>Foreign Minister Downer referred to the territories as 'occupied', including in media releases and his responses to parliamentary questions. Foreign Minister Smith did so in 2009. Defence Minister Faulkner did so in 2010. The current Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Sussan Ley, used the term 'occupation' in a speech to the House in 2011. In 2014 Prime Minister Abbott referred to the Palestinian territories as 'disputed territories'. His foreign minister confirmed there had been no policy change. They were occupied territories. So for the opposition to come in here and play mischief with this and pretend it's a change is absolutely a misrepresentation of reality.</p><p>Let there be no doubt that in adopting these terms the Australian government is reaffirming its commitment to a negotiated two-state solution in which Israel and a future Palestinian state co-exist in peace and security. The reaffirmation stands with the Australian government's strong support for the legitimacy and continued security of the State of Israel. The Australian government desires peace in all regions and corners of the globe. This includes welcoming the Abraham Accords and the declared official relations between Israel and Morocco, Bahrain, Sudan, and the United Arab Emirates, who joined Jordan and Egypt in officially recognising Israel. The government recognises and respects Israel's right to defend itself in a uniquely challenging environment, and the government believes that the Abraham Accords foster that protection to ensure that peace is ultimately achieved.</p><p>It's the Labor Party's continued policy, without change, that a two-state solution is vital to ensuring peace and security. I am going to run out of time to speak more on this issue, and I hope we have the opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to peace and unity as a government for the whole nation. We need to do that in a bipartisan and multipartisan way. <i>(Time expired)</i></p> <p class="speaker">Mehreen Faruqi</p><p>I am proud to be representing the Australian Greens in this place today as it is a party which long ago recognised Palestinian statehood and has the courage to call out Israel's systemic injustice for what it is: apartheid. Labor's shift in language is a small step forward, but it's the bare minimum and has taken such a long time. Labor must catch up quickly with the reality of the daily injustices that Palestinians face in their homeland. Human Rights Watch has said it. Amnesty International has said it. The UN special rapporteur for Palestine has said it. It's time for the Australian government to say Israel is an apartheid state. The State of Israel continues to deny the right of self-determination to Palestinians and continues to dispossess them of their land.</p><p>We will continue to call for the foreign minister to recognise that apartheid is occurring, raise concern about the far-right agenda of the Netanyahu government and recognise the statehood of Palestinians. Shamefully, there remains a bipartisan commitment to the denial of Palestinian rights and minimisation of the crimes of the Israeli state. Palestinians, for decades, have been amongst the most oppressed people in the world. They are subject to daily humiliation, brutality and violence by the Israeli government. Just this week Israeli forces killed three Palestinians on the occupied West Bank. Every day Palestinians are killed or imprisoned or have their houses destroyed and have their land taken by Israeli settlement. For 75 years Palestinians have been betrayed by countries that refuse to hold their persecutor, the State of Israel, to account and give a blank cheque of diplomatic cover to anything the State of Israel does. The Labor government has approved 23 military permits to Israel since March—the same Israeli army which perpetuates crimes against Palestinian people every single day.</p><p>Not only is Australia silent but the government is aiding and abetting this violence, oppression and systemic elimination of the Palestinian people. Australia is complicit, and it's a disgrace. The Israeli government is the most far-right, extremist coalition government Israel has seen, and the human rights of Palestinians are being further diminished by the day under this horrific Netanyahu regime. Yes, language matters, but this must be accompanied by taking real action for Palestinian human rights, including boycotting meetings with far-right Israeli ministers and placing targeted sanctions on Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich for their roles in inflaming human rights abuses against Palestinians. Labor must call the apartheid by its name and push for the Palestinian right to self-determination.</p> <p class='motion-notice motion-notice-truncated'>Long debate text truncated.</p>-
- The majority voted against a [motion](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2023-08-09.180.2):
- > *That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:*
- >
- > *The urgent need to condemn the Albanese Labor Government's latest broken election promise on Israel, as a result of a backroom factional deal ahead of Labor's national conference, which unilaterally changes Australia's position, and does nothing to advance Australia's long-standing position to support a lasting two-state solution, in which Israel and Palestine co-exist in peace and security within internationally recognised borders.*
- It was introduced by Tasmanian Senator [Claire Chandler](https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/people/senate/tasmania/claire_chandler) (Liberal).
- #### Note
- *This motion took place in August 2023 and is not connected to the later [7 October 2023 attack on Israel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Hamas-led_attack_on_Israel) and the [bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Israel%E2%80%93Hamas_war) that followed.*
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