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

I thank the member for Mackellar for her serious and constructive engagement on this issue, along with so many of her colleagues. It's an approach shared by this government but one that has been tested by the actions of some members. The terrorist acts carried out by Hamas on 7 October, including the murder of young Israelis peacefully attending a music festival, were abhorrent, and this parliament unequivocally condemned them.

Six months ago, Australia voted for a ceasefire at the United Nations, along with 152 other countries. This government strongly supports President Biden's ceasefire proposal announced this week. Hostages must be released. Civilians must be protected. As President Biden has said a deal would 'allow the United States and our partners to begin the work to rebuild homes, schools and hospitals in Gaza to help repair communities destroyed in the chaos of war'.

Australia is not a participant in this conflict. We have been a consistent voice for humanitarian concerns. The point that I've made as Prime Minister, from the very outset, is that every single innocent life matters—every Israeli, every Palestinian. This government supports a two-state solution and an enduring peace. Two states: Israel and Palestine, living peacefully side by side with security and prosperity for their people.

Here in Australia, every one of us has a responsibility to keep our community safe. Our social cohesion is a national asset that all of us have built and all of us have a responsibility to uphold and defend. Right now, our communities are distressed. People, particularly with relatives in either Israel or the occupied territories, are distressed. We have a responsibility to not add to that distress through misinformation.

It is unacceptable that misinformation is being consciously and deliberately spread by some Greens senators and MPs, who have engaged in this in demonstrations outside offices and online. That includes knowingly misrepresenting motions that are moved in this parliament.

All of us have a responsibility to prevent conflict in the Middle East from being used as a platform for prejudice here at home. There is no place for antisemitism, prejudice of any sort or Islamophobia in our communities, at our universities, or outside electorate offices.

Our staff do work to provide assistance to people dealing with Medicare, social security, migration and other issues. They deserve respect, not abuse, not assault, not attacks on the office. Those things cost taxpayers money but cause, more importantly, considerable emotional distress and are anti-democratic by their very nature because they stop people participating in our democratic process and receiving services from members of the House of Representatives or of the Senate.

Enough is enough. The time for senators and members of parliament to continue to attend and inflame tension outside these offices must end. The fact is that denying people the right to seek that assistance achieves nothing. Tragically, it undermines the cause that protesters purport to advance.

I have supported justice for Palestinians my whole life and still do. It is tragic that the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people are undermined by some people engaging in activity that completely alienates the Australian public due to the nature of that. No-one should be targeted for who they are. The targeting of people because they are Jewish, because people disagree with some actions of the Netanyahu government, are completely unacceptable. Political debate must be respectful. As political leaders, we have a responsibility to lower temperature, not to fuel division. We must foster the unity and cohesion and diversity that have always been our nation's greatest strength, a strength that we all have a duty to protect.

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