Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Macnamara for his question and his strong advocacy for the people of his electorate. The Australian government has called consistently, unequivocally, for the release of all hostages taken on 7 October during Hamas's terrorist attack on Israel.

Earlier this week, the Israeli ambassador, Amir Maimon, brought a delegation of Israeli citizens to Parliament House, and I, along with the Deputy Prime Minister and the foreign minister, met with them in my office. These are people who are doing it incredibly tough but who were here, having lost loved ones who were either murdered or kidnapped. One of the people who we met was a young woman, Mika. She's 18. She spoke about her brother, Amit, who's 16. It is good news that, since we met, Amit has been one of the hostages released.

We have been very consistent about our concern about the loss of innocent lives—Israelis and Palestinians. Every innocent life matters. What we saw last night in Melbourne at a hotel in Docklands goes beyond the right of people to peacefully protest in our democratic country. Why people would make the conscious decision to hold a protest where the families of these people were staying is beyond my comprehension and beyond contempt. I'm appalled by the actions of these protestors, and I condemn them. This does nothing to advance the cause of the Palestinian people. It does nothing to advance justice for Palestinians or peace in the region. My government supports a two-state solution in the region in the interests of Palestinians and Israelis. At the moment, what we are seeing is humanity cast aside. There is no excuse, no circumstance, where people should organise a demonstration against grieving families—none. I call it out, and I express on behalf of the Australian government our regret.

To those families who we met with: this is not the Australian way. These are people like Tali Kizhner. She lost her son, Segev. We had a very respectful private conversation with all of the families. It was captured at the beginning that they just wanted to tell their stories.

I've also had discussions with Palestinians who have lost their family members during this conflict. It's awful. People need to really think about where we are as a nation. We are a successful multicultural nation. There is no place in this country to try to bring conflict in that sort of way through that sort of action here in Australia. Regardless of what views people might have about international politics, we should be respectful. We should have compassion. We should understand that people are hurting. Australians of different backgrounds and different faiths are hurting at the moment. I say that we need to bear that in mind. I spoke on the evening I was elected about kindness. This country could do with a bit more kindness and a complete rejection of any action that targets people who are going through such a difficult time.

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