Max Chandler-Mather (Griffith, 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 Griffith from moving the following motion —That the House calls on the Government to immediately end all trade of military equipment with the State of Israel.

Countries around the world are banning the export of weapons to Israel, but here in Australia this Labor government is allowing Australian weapons companies to manufacture and export to Israel weapons and weapons materials to assist in carrying out a genocide on the Palestinian people. Not only that, but Labor is handing over public money to Israeli weapons companies who make claims and brag about testing their weapons in Gaza and on the Palestinian people. So the Greens are moving a motion today to ban all weapons trades with Israel, because it is the bare minimum that this parliament should be doing to stop the genocide in Gaza.

Canada recently voted to halt all arms sales to Israel, and now the UK is threatening to end the arms trade. They will join Japan, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and many others in ending weapons exports to Israel—countries that know that to send weapons to Israel right now is to be complicit in genocide. But not this Labor government—a Labor government that has stopped aid funding to Palestinians for 48 days, while they suffer under the worst famine since World War II.

At least take some responsibility for it. This is a Labor government that temporarily suspended visas for Palestinians fleeing the killing. This is a Labor government that has taken actions against Palestinians but provided money, weapons and support to Israel. As we speak, Israel is laying siege to three separate hospitals in Gaza, with witnesses reporting carpet bombing from Israeli jets near Al-Nasr hospital. But Labor continually deny that Australia is exporting weapons and weapons materials, despite all of the facts, including those from their own departments.

Here's what we know. Despite the secrecy of this Labor government, we know that, thanks to DFAT's own data, the Australian government are exporting weapons—millions in arms and ammunition—to the state of Israel. They exported $10 million over the last five years, including in October 2023. Drone engines, parts of missiles, mechanisms for bomber planes and metals for tanks are all made in Australia and are being used by Israel during their ongoing invasion of Gaza. In Tingalpa, Brisbane, Ferra Engineering is the sole supplier in manufacturing the mechanisms that hold and release 900-kilogram bombs in Lockheed Martin's F-35 jets. These bombs are being used in Gaza right now. They are, potentially, the ones carpet-bombing the Al-Nasr Hospital. Each time that happens—killing hundreds of civilians—it can only happen because of mechanisms manufactured in Australia and exported to Israel.

During this time we have also seen the Albanese government provide hundreds of millions of dollars to Israeli arms companies such as Elbit Systems. This company is currently using Palestinians as test subjects for their new weapons. They are using the destruction in Gaza as their sales pitch. It is clearly working because the Albanese government bought it. In February this year Labor signed a $900 million contract with Elbit Systems. Not only this but the Future Fund has $500,000 invested in the company. Countries like Norway and Denmark have blacklisted Elbit Systems for repeated, evidenced violations of humanitarian law. But the Australian government, while a genocide is occurring, is signing off on new contracts with them.

So what have these weapons done? They have helped kill 31,000 Palestinians, 13,000 of whom are children. They have injured 74,000 people. They have helped enforce an engineered famine on the people in Gaza. There are estimates now that 677,000 people, or 32 per cent of all Gazans, are in catastrophic conditions today—famine conditions. Forty-one per cent are in emergency conditions. It is expected that fully half of Gaza's more than one million people will be in catastrophic famine conditions within weeks. In all, 1.1 million Palestinians in Gaza—about half the population—are experiencing catastrophic shortages of food.

What we know is that the consequences of this are not only potentially hundreds of thousands of Palestinians dead in the next few months; we know that there will be long-term consequences as well. This is from a recent article on the famine in Gaza:

Little children who survive starvation face lifelong deprivation. They tend to grow up to be shorter than their peers and suffer reduced intellectual capacity. The World Health Organization warns of an "inter-generational cycle of malnutrition" whereby infants with low birth weight or undernourished girls grow into smaller and less healthy mothers.

This is what Israel is enforcing: a manufactured famine on Palestinians in Gaza. They are doing it with weapons and weapons parts exported from Australia. If Canada and countries around the world can ban weapons trade with Israel, then why can't Australia? This is the bare minimum that we could be doing right now. There are brave protestors attempting to stop the export of weapons from Australia to Israel, but they have been met with violence from Australian police.

Australians are pretty sick right now of a government that can't even do the bare minimum to stop the killing of men, women and children in Gaza. Frankly, this Labor government has underestimated the public opposition to this. They have underestimated how angry and fed up people are. Come the next federal election, I think they will learn what happens when they give up all moral legitimacy and help fund and support a genocide in Gaza.

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

Is the motion seconded?

Elizabeth Watson-Brown (Ryan, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion. As we sit here today in this House, Israel—right now—continues targeting civilians in hospitals: doctors, nurses, babies, the sick and the injured. Al-Shifa Hospital has suffered devastating blows since November, when Israel first targeted that medical establishment. Israel has deliberately not allowed medical supplies inside, leaving patients to die because treatments cannot reach them.

And still Australia continues to export weapons to Israel. In the last five years, Australia has provided almost $10 million in arms and ammunition to Israel. Australia has also given 350 military export permits to Israel—350! With the support of this government, Australian companies export to Israel: companies like Currawong Engineering, who make the engines for Israeli ThunderB drones; and Varley Australia make launch components for the Spike missiles—the very same missiles that are used to target and kill innocent Palestinians. We've also seen the Albanese government give hundreds of millions of dollars to Israeli arms companies, such as Elbit—the same Elbit that is currently using Palestinians as test subjects for their new weapons, using the destruction in Gaza as a sales pitch. And it is a sales pitch the Labor government bought.

Still, the Labor government continues to misinform and gaslight the public about their complicity in what Israel is doing. That is the urgency of this motion and why it must be passed as soon as possible. This parliament must rescind its support of the ongoing genocidal invasion of Gaza and stop the military exports. Canada recently voted to halt all arms sales to Israel, and now the UK is threatening to end the arms trade. They're going to join Japan, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and many others in ending weapons exports. And where is the Labor government in all this? It's silent in the face of the atrocities we are seeing in Gaza. The government must cancel contracts with Israeli arms companies and stop the export of military equipment to Israel. The rest of the world is doing it.

Each time I rise here to speak about Gaza, and since the last time I spoke, the death toll has climbed by thousands. Today, more than 100,000 people have been murdered or are injured or missing. That's thousands of innocent children, teachers, nurses, journalists, mothers and their babies. And now, through Israel's actions, which this parliament has endorsed, thousands more are under threat in Rafah—a place that people were once told was safe. Millions fled there hoping for safety, and it is now, itself, under siege. People are living in unfathomably cruel conditions. Children are starving to death, while aid trucks line up across the border. Israel won't let them through. That's right: children are starving, when there is food within metres of the border waiting to be let through. And yet the Labor government still does not condemn the actions of Israel. People are grinding bird-feed, where they can find it, into flour, to try to stave off their children's starvation.

Humanitarian agencies there are trying, against all odds, to prevent the deaths and improve the conditions on the ground. One of the largest of those organisations, UNRWA, had their funding cut by this very government—by this very parliament—for months. How many children have died because of Labor's collusion in the collective punishment of Palestinians? And collective punishment is a war crime under the Geneva Convention. Suspending funding to such an important relief agency on the basis of the alleged actions of a tiny number of their staff, resulting in a huge decline in relief efforts, seems like collective punishment to me.

The interim International Court of Justice ruling was that Israel may be carrying out a genocide in Gaza, with very clear orders to prevent that genocide. Yet, despite the mountains of evidence—including what was presented to the ICJ: the explicit genocidal language used by Israeli officials repeatedly and proudly—Labor has neither withdrawn support for Israel, nor called for a permanent ceasefire, nor supported South Africa's heroic actions at the ICJ, nor committed to ending military exports to Israel. The only way to stop this carnage and the horror is through international pressure, and Australia has a role to play and a responsibility. Labor is sitting on its hands while this genocide unfolds. Labor will be judged harshly by history for this cowardice. This parliament must correct this mistake. It must not continue to support Israel's genocidal actions in Gaza.

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

The Albanese government's approach to the conflict following the Hamas terrorist attacks of 7 October has been consistent and it has been principled. Australia is not a central player in the Middle East or in the current conflict. We do, however, have a respected voice, and we have sought to use it with countries of influence in the region to advance our objectives. We've been clear that we want to see the release of hostages, we want to see the upholding of international law and we want to see the protection of civilians, and we've prosecuted this case with partners in the region.

There are differences of view in the Australian community with respect to this conflict. It's unsurprising. Australia is a diverse country with people from a range of backgrounds and with a range of life experiences and a range of different perspectives. But, as a government, we've been clear that, as we prosecute these differences and work this through as a nation, the way we conduct this debate in our community about these differences matters.

Unfortunately, during this debate, regrettably we've seen people who claim to champion human rights and justice behaving in a way that shows little regard for either. Shocking attempts at intimidation and character assassination have become, unfortunately, characteristic of this debate. We've seen blatant antisemitism and Islamophobia. Some are intent on reproducing the hatred and social conflict of the Middle East here in our community, in Australia, pushing absolutist agendas ahead of the respectful and peaceful disagreement that a healthy democracy, particularly a diverse, multicultural Australian democracy, demands. Australia is not a country where you should be pushed to adopt an absolutist position on one side or another. We're a pluralist country, allowing for many different viewpoints, where we are united by respect for each other's humanity and for each other's right to live in peace.

Regrettably, there are some in this country who seek to confect a direct connection between Australia and this conflict in order to raise the stakes of their own political campaigns in a way that is simply not justified by the facts. The motion before the House is a prime example of this. The facts with respect to the motion being moved today are clear and have been set out by the government on many occasions in this chamber, in the Senate and in Senate estimates. The foreign minister has spoken to this in Senate question time. Departmental officials have done so also in the last round of Senate estimates hearings. For the benefit of the House I will reiterate, in response to this motion, what the government has already made clear: Australia has not supplied weapons to Israel since this conflict began and for at least the past five years. I understand that the Greens political party supports imposing a trade embargo on Israel, and it's its prerogative to hold that position, but that is not the government's position. We do not have a policy of boycotting all exports to Israel or of disengaging from Israel economically.

As the government has made clear previously, Australia has a stringent export control framework which is designed to ensure that our military and dual-use items are used responsibly outside of Australia. As the Deputy Prime Minister said on 1 February of this year:

Australia's defence export control regime is one which is thorough and detailed as it applies to defence exports or dual-use items, to anywhere in the world.

The framework applies to a wide range of goods and technology, including items used for civilian and commercial purposes. So I'd remind members that export permits should not be confused with weapons sales. Defence undertakes a rigorous assessment of each export application, and this includes determining if there is an overriding risk that the export may be used in ways contrary to Australia's national interests or our international obligations. If this risk is identified, Defence refuses the permit.

Australia is a party to and fully implements all major international arms control treaties, including the Arms Trade Treaty. The Albanese government is also taking proactive steps to reform and strengthen Australia's export control framework, including through the Defence Trade Controls Amendment Bill 2023, which will strengthen Australia's export controls framework, and the Independent review of the Defence Trade Controls Act 2012, which was tabled, with the government response to it, on Wednesday 20 March.

We all have a responsibility in this place to ensure that our language does not rely on or convey misinformation, so I encourage members to consider the consequences of the language they use on this matter. Simply choosing to ignore the facts that have been presented repeatedly and promulgating a false narrative on this matter is only contributing to the divisions that we currently see in our community. Despite this, the Greens and others continue to disseminate misinformation and, frankly, encourage perpetuation of conspiracy theories on this conflict.

Some of the misinformation on this matter that I have seen shared in WhatsApp groups in my community and across the country since the outbreak of this conflict have been frankly farcical. There were claims that shipments of Bushmasters were on ships leaving Sydney Harbour, bound for the conflict, claims of ADF deployments to the region, sent as a contingency to assist in the consular evacuations of Australians and their families should the conflict spread in the region, and claims that those contingency deployments were engaged somehow to participate in this conflict. These false claims have consequences in our community. Inflammatory claims inflame community tensions. Extreme rhetoric encourages extreme actions. The Australian community is being tested by this conflict. We need to manage difference in a way that enables us to continue to get along as a community to ensure that diverse Australian schools, workplaces, sporting teams and community groups are able to continue to function as the diverse, harmonious groups that they have been in the past.

The least that we can ask from members in this chamber in facilitating this is that the debate be informed by the facts, not by misinformation or insinuations. I noted the member for Griffith's comments on humanitarian assistance to the region in this respect—the claim that the Australian government had suspended all humanitarian assistance in this conflict. This is one of those classic distortions of reality designed to inflame tensions. Since 7 October the Australian government has contributed $52.5 million of humanitarian assistance to the Middle East, consistent with that objective that I talked about before—to protect civilian life. That $52.5 million does not include the doubling of funding to UNRWA, announced on coming into government, so it doesn't include the $20 million provided to UNRWA before this conflict commenced. The $6 million of additional support to UNRWA that was announced following the foreign minister's visit to the region earlier this year was suspended—

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

There you go.

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

in response to very grave allegations of involvement of UNRWA staff members in the 7 October terrorist attacks. We acted in response to UNRWA's actions of dismissing staff who were alleged to have been involved in that, initiating review processes. None of that should take away from the fact that, of that $52.5 million provided for humanitarian assistance in this conflict, only $6 million was suspended in response to grave threats. The member for Griffith giggles, snorts and chortles, but those are the facts. There was $46 million provided for humanitarian support, which he, for his own partisan, political purposes, pretends didn't happen. If he had any integrity, he would stand up in this place and withdraw the false claim that he made in the moving of this suspension. He won't withdraw, though, because deliberately inflammatory claims like that, which are misinformation and not based on the facts, are part of his political campaign. He sees votes on this issue. The Australian government sees a terrible humanitarian crisis. We see a conflict in the Middle East—

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

Order! The minister has the call.

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

that will only be resolved through peace building through the parties. We respect the legitimate aspirations of both Israelis and the Palestinian people to live side by side within their own states and with internationally recognised borders in peace and security. The only way we'll realise that is through peace building, not through divisive partisan political campaigning.

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

The question is that the motion be agreed to.

A division having been called and the bells having been rung—

As there are fewer than five members on the side for the ayes in this division, I declare the question negated in accordance with standing order 127. The names of those members who are in the minority will be recorded in the Votes and Proceedings.