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

I seek leave to move the following motion:

That this House recognise the State of Palestine.

Leave not granted.

I move:

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

That this House recognise the State of Palestine.

Recognition of Palestine is long overdue; 143 countries have already done it. Three more—Norway, Spain and Ireland—joined overnight, and today Australia must stand with them in recognising the State of Palestine. This is not just a symbolic move; it is a critical step towards peace and towards ending the slaughter that we are seeing with the invasion of Gaza right now. It is a concrete step towards peace and, as the Prime Minister of Norway said last week, 'There cannot be peace in the Middle East if there is no recognition.'

It is critical that we debate this now, just as other countries have interrupted what they were doing to recognise Palestine now, because the scale and of the slaughter and the genocide that we are witnessing is now topping 36,000 people—36,000 civilians who have been slaughtered. A health system has been destroyed. There are mass graves in hospitals, aid has been blocked and children are now dying because they do not have enough to eat or drink. We are seeing, right now, human-engineered famine that is taking a toll on a civilian population that amounts to collective punishment of these people. And it is time for countries, including Australia, to step in and do something. Just as other countries have made it a priority to recognise the State of Palestine, so should this government today, right now, by backing this motion.

The Greens know that recognition alone won't stop the invasion or end the occupation. We want to see the government take some real, concrete steps to put pressure on this extreme war cabinet of Benjamin Netanyahu that is subject to orders to stop genocide. We want to see an end to the two-way trade, the military trade, with Israel. We want to see sanctions imposed on this extreme war cabinet and we want to see the ambassador expelled until this slaughter ends.

Even if you disagree with all of those measures and are unwilling to take those steps to bring about some practical pressure on this extreme war cabinet of Benjamin Netanyahu, you can still support this motion because this motion says very simply, 'This House will recognise the State of Palestine,' and join the majority of other countries around the world that do the same. Labor promised people before the election that it would do this. Labor promised people that it would do the exact words in this motion. So now at stake is also something that needs to be resolved today, namely: whether, when it comes to the push for peace, people can believe that Labor will do what they say.

I notice in the last couple of days that Labor has said that they support a two-state solution. You can't support a two-state solution if you recognise only one side of it. What is becoming crystal clear is that Labor's words are just a fig leaf for saying that something might happen in the future while they back now the destruction of the conditions that would allow a Palestinian state to survive and thrive. Labor's empty words are a hope that something might be done in the future, while Labor backs to the hilt a genocidal war that is destroying the possibility of a state of Palestine. Instead what has happened, despite them taking to the election a promise to say that they would recognise Palestine, Labor has stood with the extreme Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu, together with its ministers, who've dehumanised the Palestinians and called for the erasure of their territory.

Labor has stood by as settlements have been built, with over 400,000 settlers in the West Bank, in what is meant to be Palestinian territory and part of a Palestinian state. Labor has stood by as checkpoints have been built and roads that Palestinians aren't able to use have been constructed that divide their country into Bandustans, where they are unable to exercise effective self-government. Meanwhile, Labor has backed the invasion in Gaza that has seen a health system destroyed, a human engineered famine and the majority of people's homes in that region be razed to the ground. Labor has backed every single step that has been taken by this extreme Netanyahu government to destroy the conditions of a two-state solution. I say to Labor here, now, 'This is urgent, because if you really believe what you are saying about recognising the State of Palestine, then you would stop backing the invasion, you would recognise Palestine now and you would take steps against this extreme Israeli government that is conducting a genocide, instead of backing them to the hilt.'

Recognition—what this motion is about is recognition and recognition only. This isn't just a political question; it is a deeply moral question as well, because the people of Palestine have endured displacement and suffering for far too long. This motion is about saying, 'The values that we hold dear, the right to live in freedom and exercise self-determination and to wake up every day thinking about how am I going to make my life better rather than how am I going to avoid another bomb that is going to fall on me.' Those simple values about wanting to live in peace and security. This is about saying those values should be enjoyed equally by everyone around the world. Those values of peace and security and self-determination should be enjoyed equally by Palestinians and Israelis alike. This is about saying, as a matter of morality, 'We will not stand by as others' rights to self-determination and to live in peace and security and freedom are destroyed.'

There will come a time when people look back at this horrific invasion and ask, 'How did we let it happen?' And when they do, they will look at what was said in this chamber, they will look at how every member of this chamber voted and they will look at the actions that took place. There will be no hiding. The history books will not lie. At the moment, what they will see is every Labor and Liberal member voting together to support the invasion, against the calls of the United Nations and humanitarian groups around the world. They will see Labor and Liberal continuing to say that this is about Israel's right to defend itself, when everyone is saying those actions have now exceeded and gone far beyond that and are amounting to collective punishment of civilians. They will see Labor defunding UNWRA—critical funding to Palestinians—right when it was needed most, and they will see Labor doing little more than offering stern words, even after Israel's military attacked Rafah, having been ordered by the International Court of Justice not to.

Even after the International Court of Justice said, 'Don't invade Rafah,' all that Labor can do is offer hand-wringing tweets, continue the trade with Israel and continue to act as if nothing happened. Well, genocide and war crimes happen when the perpetrators think there are going to be no consequences, when they think governments around the world will stand by, do nothing and continue to actively back their invasion. Hand-wringing tweets from this government are no longer good enough. It is time for the government to take action, and it can start by recognising the state of Palestine.

The best time to have stopped this horrific invasion was eight months ago, but the next best time is now. There is a reason other countries around the world, right now, today, are shifting their positions to recognise the state of Palestine. Australia should join them. Labor promised at the election that they would do that and, if they believe even a 10th of what they say, they should vote for this motion so that this House, today, recognises the state of Palestine.

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