Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to 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.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Ross Vasta (Bonner, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order. The member for Melbourne has the call.

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

Not a pause so that food can get in and then they can be bombed. But do you agree, right now, that the invasion should stop and should stop permanently? That is what this motion is about, and I urge everyone to understand that what we say and do here matters. This is our chance to join that growing international chorus that says, 'Enough is enough,' and we need an immediate and permanent ceasefire.

Ross Vasta (Bonner, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is there a seconder to the motion?

Max Chandler-Mather (Griffith, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion. The current Australian Labor government could actually be in breach of its own obligations under the genocide convention for failing to take actions to prevent a genocide in Gaza. In fact, international lawyer Francis Boyle, when talking about Australia and the other countries that have stopped funding UNRWA—the main aid organisation in Gaza—while there is an engineered famine, said:

These States are now also directly violating Genocide Convention article 2(c) by themselves: 'Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part...'

To be crystal clear, this means Australia, and the Labor government, could find itself before the International Court of Justice—just as Israel is right now—for its role in the genocide in Gaza.

As the State of Israel's mass slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza continues, with F-35 jets screeching over the heads of innocent men, women and children who far too often take their last breath as bombs rain down, and as the 1.5 million Palestinians in Rafah—the tiny area of Gaza where Israel has pushed most Palestinians—prepare for the next stage of Israel's genocide, the Australian public should know. They should know that these jets, dropping those bombs, can only function because of parts manufactured and exported from Australia with the consent of this Australian Labor government.

In fact, not only is Labor allowing the export of weapons to Israel; it has granted two more weapon export permits since 7 October. The latest DFAT data shows $125,000 in arms and ammunition exported to Israel in October. As Israel deliberately engineers a famine in Gaza that experts say will kill more Palestinians than the already 30,000 murdered by Israeli bombs and weapons that can only function in part as a result of Australian weapon exports, the Australian government has joined in by stopping $6 million of aid funding to UNRWA, the UN aid organisation for Palestine.

The head of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, has said UNRWA has:

… reached breaking point, with Israel's repeated calls to dismantle UNRWA and the freezing of funding by donors at a time of unprecedented humanitarian needs in Gaza.

UNRWA now reports it has been forced to pause aid and deliveries to northern Gaza, where it is currently not possible to conduct proper humanitarian operations. Palestinians are slowly being starved to death, and this Australian government is participating in that by pausing aid funding for UNRWA.

Let's think about this in the human consequences. A two-month-old Palestinian boy, Mahmoud Fattouh, has died from starvation in northern Gaza. Here's what the paramedics said:

We saw a woman carrying her baby, screaming for help. Her pale baby seemed to be taking his last breath.

We rushed him to hospital and he was found to be suffering acute malnutrition. Medical staff rushed him into the ICU. The baby has not been fed any milk for days, as baby milk is totally absent in Gaza.

Can anyone here possibly imagine the unique horror and pain for a mum to watch their small baby slowly take their last breath as they die as a result of not having enough food to breathe?

What about the six-year-old Palestinian girl, Hind Rajab? To quote from the SBS:

Relatives found the body on Saturday of a 6-year-old Palestinian girl who had begged Gaza rescuers to send help after being trapped by Israeli military fire, along with the bodies of five of her family members and two ambulance workers who had gone to save her.

…   …   …

The audio clips released by the Red Crescent earlier this month recorded a call to dispatchers that was first made by Hind's teenage cousin … saying an Israeli tank was approaching before shots rang out and she screamed.

Believed to be the only survivor, Hind stayed on the line for three hours with dispatchers, who tried to soothe her as they prepared to send an ambulance.

Let parliament remember her words. This is what that 6-year-old girl said:

'Come and get me,' Hind was heard crying desperately in another audio recording. 'I'm so scared, please come.'

She was trapped in a car surrounded by her five dead family members for 12 hours after rescuers tried to send an ambulance to reach her, but it was destroyed by the IDF. These two little children's stories are just some of those of the 10,000 children who have been murdered by the Israeli genocidal actions in Gaza. This Labor government is allowing weapons to be sent to Israel. This Labor government is stopping crucial aid funding from reaching little kids like these.

For those watching on their phones or computers at home, it is easy to feel overwhelmed, but it is our duty to the millions of Palestinians to keep fighting. For every member of this parliament, remember that the genocide convention asks us to take actions to prevent genocide. And in a few years time ask yourselves: did you do enough? If the answer is no, let that rest on your conscience.

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

Since Hamas's appalling terrorist attacks of 7 October, the Australian government has taken a principled and consistent approach to this conflict. Australia is not a central player in this conflict, but we do have a respected voice and we've used it with countries who have influence in the region to pursue our objectives. We've used our voice to advocate for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, humanitarian access, the release of hostages and the protection of civilians.

This conflict has touched so many Australians. Australians in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories during this conflict have obviously been directly affected. But many more Australians have been directly connected to this conflict through the constant stream of horrifying messages and images shared directly from this conflict. There has been so much suffering in this conflict and so much trauma in our own community. We mourn for the horrifying loss of innocent civilian life that we have witnessed. We also know that so many lives remain in the balance, and that's why we've committed $46.5 million in humanitarian assistance to the region since October 7—an amount that that will be delivered in full.

The United Nations has reported that 400,000 Palestinians in Gaza are starving and one million are at risk of starvation. An estimated 1.7 million people in Gaza are internally displaced, and there are increasingly few safe places for Palestinians to go. There remain potentially 130 hostages who are being held by the terrorist group Hamas. In this context, this motion calls for a ceasefire in the conflict, and the international community has been crystal clear. At the United Nations in December of last year 153 countries, including Australia, voted in support of a humanitarian ceasefire. A deal must be struck. It's how parties can move towards a sustainable ceasefire and a diplomatic pathway out of this conflict.

The Australian government strongly supports efforts to broker an extended cessation in hostilities. We welcome US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's recent comment that he believes that there remains 'space for an agreement to be reached', and we expect parties to engage in good faith towards this goal.

We know that Hamas violated the terms of the last agreement, and we know also that inflammatory rhetoric from some members of the Israeli government has been unhelpful. Ultimately, the only way out of this conflict is through a two-state solution. The question the international community is trying to answer is: how can responsible countries encourage a pathway out of this conflict towards a lasting peace? We see that in the comments of both US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and UK foreign secretary David Cameron. A lasting peace requires a two-state solution: an Israeli state alongside a Palestinian state. It requires all parties to respect the right of others to exist.

We've always said that we will be guided by the principle of advancing the cause of peace and progress towards a just and enduring two-state solution. We can't assure Israel's legitimate aspirations without also enabling legitimate Palestinian aspirations for their own state. Achieving this feels further away than it has at any other time in my lifetime, but it's the only way out of this conflict. It will require extraordinary efforts of peace-building from Israelis and Palestinians, which are supported by the good-faith efforts of the international community.

Unfortunately we're not seeing that good faith support for peace-building being modelled by political actors in Australia. We saw, under the previous government, how using international relations to play domestic partisan politics hurt the Australian national interest. Regrettably, we're seeing this again, through the behaviour of the Leader of the Opposition and the Greens. The Leader of the Opposition and the Greens want to whip up anger and fear in the Australian community because they think that there are votes in it for them. If they were sincere in their concern about the crisis in the Middle East, they would be engaged on a pathway to peace and keeping our community united. Instead they would rather see our community divided, to pick off votes. We have to safeguard a peaceful dialogue in our community and work to make Australia more united, rather than seek to divide Australians. We need to be looking for common ground and building from that, rather than seeking to divide.

Greens activists don't like their actions being equating to those of the Leader of the Opposition, but look at this motion. The only words of the 16-part resolution of this House passed on 16 October last year and quoted in today's Greens motion is that the House 'stands with Israel'. Is it unusual for a resolution of this House, following an appalling terrorist attack, to express solidarity and sympathy with the victims of an attack? Of course not. It's a basic act of common humanity that this House has expressed repeatedly in the past in the face of other terrorist atrocities. After Al Qaeda's terrorist attacks on the United States on 11 September 2001, the resolution of this House provided that the House:

… conveys to the Government and people of the United States of America the deepest sympathy and sense of shared loss felt by the Government and people of Australia …

After an Australian white nationalist terrorist attack in Christchurch, the resolution of this House expressed:

… our solidarity with the Muslim community of Christchurch, New Zealand and our own nation at this time of affliction …

There's nothing unusual with expressing solidarity with a nation that's been a victim of a terrorist attack.

Despite this, those are the only three words in the 351-word 16-part resolution of the House that the Greens seem to recognise. Why doesn't this suspension motion recognise that parliament's resolution of 16 October also affirmed that the House:

(6) acknowledges the devastating loss of Israeli and Palestinian life and that innocent civilians on all sides are suffering as a result of the attacks by Hamas and the subsequent conflict;

(7) supports justice and freedom for Israelis and Palestinians alike;

(8) supports international efforts to establish and maintain humanitarian access into Gaza, including safe passage for civilians;

(9) reiterates Australia's consistent position in all contexts is to call for the protection of civilian lives and the observance of international law;

(10) supports Australia's engagement with countries in the Middle East and beyond, at all levels, in support of the protection of civilians, and the containment of the conflict …

The reason that all non-Greens MPs supported this motion on 16 October is that the motion encompassed all dimensions of this conflict in a principled way. But the Greens voted against it because, for them, differentiation is the point. They don't see the benefit of a joint statement of solidarity for Israelis, Palestinians and Australians alike caught up in this conflict. They still cannot bring themselves, even today, to refer to the innocent hostages still held by Hamas in this conflict. They don't want to look for common ground in challenging times; they want to look for differentiation for their own political campaign.

The Greens have ignored this part of the resolution of the House on 16 October ever since because it complicates their political narrative. They ignore it because it undermines the Greens political strategy of looking for division for political gain, rather than unity for the benefit of the Australian community and those seeking to resolve the conflict in the Middle East. They want to confect a vision and stoke conflict, instead of trying to find common ground to build out from. They want to sow misinformation instead of facilitating a fact based debate.

As I indicated earlier, there are so many people of goodwill in our community who feel intensely moved by this conflict. I've had so many conversations with members of my own community about this. Their views are often diverse and complex. There are many Australians who feel intensely invested in this conflict and have firmly held views. There are many more Australians I've spoken to who are horrified at the terrorist attacks, appalled by the loss of innocent civilian life, but don't feel like they fully understand the conflict and are reluctant to engage for fear of saying the wrong thing and being shouted down by those who disagree. The Greens exploit all of these people of goodwill, with bad faith political ploys like this motion.

The way we talk about and debate these incredibly serious and consequential issues matters for the Australian community. As the House affirmed in its resolution of 16 October:

… what has unfolded is deeply distressing for many in the Australian community, close to the heart of many, and it is important that we maintain respect for each other here at home as people express their views …

Further, it affirmed:

… undermining social cohesion and unity by stoking fear and division risks Australia's domestic security …

I call on the Greens and the Leader of the Opposition to recognise the importance of social cohesion and national unity and engage in this debate with respect for our fellow Australians.

Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to indicate that the opposition will be voting against this motion. In this place we should value the lives of all innocent civilians, including innocent Israeli civilians and innocent Palestinian civilians. In this place we should support the two-state solution and the desire of all fair minded observers for a lasting peace and the existence of two states. But it is quite remarkable that the Greens continue to pursue a narrative in relation to the events currently unfolding which entirely ignores and airbrushes away the horrors of the 7 October terrorist attack upon Israel committed by the appalling terrorist organisation Hamas—a shocking and violent attack in which innocent and unarmed men, women and children were killed, injured and taken hostage. The depraved and horrific nature of this violence, including sexual violence and deliberate harm to young children, is sickening, and yet the Greens again move a motion which is completely silent about the fact of that appalling terrorist attack having occurred. They completely fail to mention in this motion that there remain Israeli citizens being held hostage in Gaza by the terrorist thugs of Hamas. Indeed, they continue to completely ignore the existence of Hamas. (Time expired)

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question before the House is a motion to suspend standing orders.