Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

There have been a number of developments this year that have focused the attention of the international community on the Middle East peace process. The Arab spring has been one of these developments. In May of this year President Obama delivered an important speech on developments in the region, saying that the future borders of Israel and a future Palestine state should be based on 1967 borders with mutually agreed land swaps. There are growing indications that the Palestinians are preparing for some form of statehood initiative at the September meetings of the UN General Assembly. As yet, no draft resolution has been formulated, nor is the nature of the proposed resolution clear.

The government is closely following developments around a possible UN resolu­tion on Palestinian statehood. The govern­ment will make a decision on any vote closer to the time, based on principle and in close consultation with our friends in Israel and the Arab world. In our view, the best, most sustainable and durable solution to the Middle East peace process is a two-state outcome that has been negotiated directly between Israel and the Palestinians. (Time expired)