Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the member for Melbourne moving the following motion:

That the House:

(1) notes that since the House of Representatives' resolution of 16 October 2023 concerning Israel and Gaza, which supported the State of Israel's looming invasion of Gaza by stating that the House 'stands with Israel', the following have occurred:

(a) an appalling and increasing toll of deaths and injuries caused by the State of Israel's bombing and invasion of Gaza;

(b) a growing humanitarian catastrophe caused by the State of Israel's blockade, bombing and invasion of Gaza; and

(c) the State of Israel is the subject of recent International Court of Justice orders in South Africa's case regarding the prevention of genocide;

(2) does not support the State of Israel's continued invasion of Gaza, and calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire; and

(3) calls on the Government to end its support for the State of Israel's invasion of Gaza.

It is absolutely imperative that we debate today why this Labor government continues to back the State of Israel's invasion of Gaza. I want to talk about Mahmoud Fattouh, who was two months old when, in the last few days, he died of starvation in northern Gaza. The paramedics have said his mother came screaming for help, seeking medical assistance, as he appeared to take his last breath. He was on the verge of starvation. He had not had baby milk. Why had he not had baby milk? Because there is no baby milk in northern Gaza. Why? UNRWA, the aid agency, has not been able to make a delivery of food to northern Gaza since 23 January, over a month ago. The Australian government—the Labor government—has suspended UNRWA funding, making UNRWA's job even harder. In northern Gaza, like the rest of the country, deliveries of food and humanitarian assistance are being blockaded while this area is being bombed.

Over two million people live in Gaza—forty per cent of them are under the age of 15—and there is nowhere for them to go. It is effectively a walled-in primary school. What has happened? They have been starved. They have been dehydrated. Fuel and power have been cut off. They have been bombed and invaded, and they've been herded to the south, where an imminent assault awaits them. There are now predictions of famine and widespread disease breaking out across this region. Children are eating animal food. The hospital system is no longer functioning in large parts of Gaza. In the north of Gaza, the ambulance system has broken down, according to reports.

In the face of this unfolding humanitarian catastrophe, which has already seen about 30,000 people die, including Mahmoud Fattouh, what do we get from the government? We get the continued backing of the invasion and a cutting off of UNRWA's funding. As a result, this extreme war cabinet of the Israeli government, which is now subject to orders by the International Court of Justice to stop genocide, feel emboldened knowing that there's nothing they won't do before governments will step in and act. They feel they've got carte blanche. As a result, children are dying. People are dying in their thousands. We are on the verge of the humanitarian catastrophe that comes from people dying not only when bombs hit their homes and their hospitals get destroyed but also from all the diseases and starvation that come when civil society breaks down.

What is happening in response? The Prime Minister of Israel has said the looming invasion of Rafah will happen. It's not listening to the plaintive calls and weasel words coming from some world leaders that say they care about it but then do nothing to back it up and refuse to call for a permanent and immediate ceasefire. They know there will be no repercussions, and thousands more will continue to die. There is much more that the government should be doing. It is time, when you have a war cabinet that is now subject to orders to stop genocide, that the government impose sanctions on the members of that war cabinet. I note how quickly the government has moved to impose sanctions with respect to terrible events in and associated with Russia. And yet, there is still full backing for the invasion of Gaza. It is also the time to stop sending weapons. Stop military exports to a government that is subject to orders to stop genocide. That is the time, if there is any, to stop that. It is also the time, Labor, to restore UNRWA funding. We are seeing children dying and people running out of food and water, and UNRWA need the money to get back in there and give them the very basics of life.

But the bare minimum that should be able to be agreed on by everyone across this parliament is that the invasion must stop. This catastrophic loss of life must stop, and there must be an immediate and permanent ceasefire. I say to others in this parliament: whatever your position was back on 16 October when there was a vote to support the invasion—which we opposed, because you could see the looming humanitarian catastrophe that came from it—30,000 people have died. Children are dying. Mothers are giving birth and, in many instances, being subject to surgical procedures without anaesthetic, according to reports. There is looming starvation. Civil society in Gaza is breaking down. It will be children and civilians who suffer. That is part of the reason the International Court of Justice took the extraordinary step of putting orders on the Israeli government. The Israeli government fronted up and said that there is absolutely no case to answer with respect to genocide, and the International Court of Justice said, 'We disagree, and we are going to impose orders on you.' That has happened since this parliament and Labor sanctioned the invasion. That has happened. 30,000 people have been killed. Civil society is breaking down. The health system is breaking down.

So maybe—and I say it to other members of parliament—you have a different view about the question of genocide and what the International Court of Justice says. Maybe you have a different view about sanctions and the actions that should be taken against one of the most extreme far-right governments we have seen for some time in this Netanyahu government and its war cabinet. Maybe you disagree with all of that. What this motion is about is something very simple: do you think that right now the invasion should stop and stop permanently? There's not a weasel word. It's not a humanitarian pause so that children can be fed and then killed.

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