Tim Watts (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Six months ago, Australia voted at the United Nations, with 152 other countries, for a ceasefire in the conflict in Gaza. I was in the Middle East at the time on a visit to the region that included Qatar, Egypt, Jordan and, of course, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. While Australia is not a central player in this conflict, on this visit I used Australia's respected voice to speak to countries who do have influence in the region to explain Australia's call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. I called for all parties to the conflict to respect international humanitarian law and the laws of war, and I reiterated calls for rapid, safe and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian relief to Gaza. I also made clear Australia's expectation for hostages taken by Hamas as part of the 7 October attacks to be released immediately and unconditionally.

The human suffering we have seen in Gaza in the six months since then is intolerable. The war must end, and every day of delay means more deaths and more suffering. The World Food Programme has warned that there is already a full-blown famine in the north of Gaza, and these conditions are rapidly spreading to the south. More than half of Gaza's population of 2.3 million have fled to Rafah, where they have been seeking shelter.

Against this setting, Israeli military operations in Rafah have caused the deaths of innocent civilians—men, women and children—that have been witnessed by the world. Large-scale military operations in densely populated areas risk further devastation and even more civilian casualties. That's why we and the global community have repeatedly told the Netanyahu government: 'Listen to the world. Do not go down this path.'

Australians are rightly horrified by what they've seen in this conflict, and there is significant trauma and tension in our own community as a result of what Australians witnessed on their TV screens and on their phones during the 7 October attacks and the conflict that has followed. These are serious times that call for serious leadership. Despite this, in recent weeks we've seen the Greens deliberately using misleading conspiracy theories to further inflame tensions.

The government has made it clear repeatedly that Australia has not provided weapons or ammunition to Israel since the start of the conflict. This week in Senate estimates, Defence officials have further confirmed that, despite the deliberately misleading and inflammatory claims being made by the Greens on social media and in this parliament and by the Leader of the Greens on the Insiders program, the $1.5 million in exports to Israel in February, a figure regularly cited by the Greens this year, was actually Australian Defence Force equipment going overseas for manufacture before subsequently returning to Australia for use.

Since the start of this conflict, the Greens have sought to make up direct connections between Australia and the crisis in Gaza to elevate the stakes of their domestic political campaigning. In doing so, they've made themselves wilfully ignorant of the truth, because misleading conspiracy theories are better fuel for the partisan political strategy than the reality. There are actively constructing a false reality with alternative facts designed to exploit real distress and cause real harm. We've seen in other countries how destructive this approach is.

Many people in Australia who are understandably deeply distressed by Gaza are exercising their right to peaceful protest, but the Greens' misleading campaign seeks to manipulate legitimate concerns to incite political conflict, to reproduce the conflict for their own benefit. The Greens' incitement is seeing some peaceful protests become violent and aggressive. Greens social media pages are collaborating with social media pages that call for the death of political opponents or call on people to stop condemning 7 October. Other people speak at protests at which there are signs calling for death for their political opponents. It might be in the interests of Greens politicians to use misinformation to inflame and divide the Australian community, but it's not in the interests of our democracy or of the unity of our country.

Australians want their leaders to bring the community together in these serious and difficult times. We need to show the maturity necessary to listen to each other and to try to understand rather than to shout at each other and abuse those with different perspectives. We need more empathy and respect and less contempt and conspiracy theories. The Australian government is not a central player in the conflict in Gaza, but we've used our respected voice to help build the conditions necessary for peace.

Our government recognises that the only way to break the cycle of violence is through a two-state solution, with Israelis and Palestinians living side by side in peace and security within internationally-recognised borders, in their own state. The only way we will achieve this is through peace-building between the parties. Politicians can't say they're for peace in Gaza if they reproduce the conflict at home.

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