Alicia Payne (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

In this sitting fortnight, I've had the opportunity to attend two briefings from aid workers who are providing aid in Gaza. One was organised by my Labor colleague the member for Reid, Sally Sitou, and that was with workers from UNICEF who are currently in Gaza and who joined us online. We were able to talk with them and hear from them directly. Another was on Monday this week, a briefing organised by Senator David Pocock with Medecins Sans Frontieres, where we heard from Arunn Jegan, head of mission for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, where he's responsible for MSF's health related programming in Gaza; from Scarlett Wong, a clinical psychologist and mental health activity manager for MSF, responsible for coordinating the mental health emergency response in southern Gaza; and Dr Sanjay Adusumilli, who was working as a surgeon there. There were many from the Canberra community at Senator Pocock's briefing in the theatrette here in Parliament House. I want to thank the member for Reid and Senator Pocock for organising these briefings, because I think it's incredibly important that people have the opportunity to hear from people who are there on the ground in Gaza.

Unsurprisingly, both of these briefings were incredibly confronting. We saw horrific injuries, particularly of children; we saw a health system that has been completely destroyed to the point that it was incapable of really helping these people, in spite of the wonderful help of these workers; and we saw a worsening humanitarian crisis, with people unable to access water and food. I was really struck by the bravery and selflessness of these aid workers, people who updated their wills, wrote goodbye letters to their loved ones and headed into what is currently hell on earth to help others. I want to very sincerely say that we all owe these aid workers our deepest gratitude and admiration for what they are doing.

What really struck me was the senselessness of this—the senseless killing of innocent people, so many of them children. So many people have had their lives destroyed because their entire families have been killed. People have suffered horrific injuries from which they will never recover and, of course, trauma from which they will never recover. This is man-made, inflicted by others, and it includes the man-made starvation that is happening there. Little children and babies are being treated for severe malnutrition that could so easily never have been caused and could easily be prevented if aid were able to get in there.

This must stop. We need an immediate ceasefire, and we need an enduring path to peace. I note that it's been six months since our government joined many other countries at the UN in voting for that ceasefire. We also reiterate calls that hostages be released so that this can be progressed. The Netanyahu government must heed the calls of the international community to halt their attacks on Rafah, where almost half of Gaza's population went to shelter and were told they would be safe. International law and the ICC must be respected. Just last night 27 people were killed and dozens injured in an Israeli strike on a school in al-Nuseirat. This is part of a renewed operation in central Gaza by Israel. The school was run by UNRWA and was housing hundreds of displaced families.

I want to acknowledge so many people in my community who are rightfully deeply distressed by this, and I want to thank them for continuing to write to me about this. I acknowledge their right to peaceful protest, and 'peaceful' is an important word there. I understand where they are coming from. I talked with a young woman who was protesting outside my office and who said, 'I just want to stand here until this stops.' I say to my community that I feel this and that we all do. We all want this to stop. I thank them for their advocacy, but I say: please know that I am listening.

House adjourned at 17:00

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