Bob Carr (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

The Australian government strongly opposes the boycott, divestments and sanctions campaign. The government does not support boycott movements that seek to ban exchanges with Israel and policies that impede legitimate trade between states and that unfairly target lawful Australian businesses. Indeed, the Australian Labor Party fought a campaign in the state division of Marrickville on this very principle and won against the Greens party. The government opposed the motion for two reasons: firstly, the government has a long- established practice of not attempting to navigate foreign policy matters through Senate motions and, secondly, the motion moved by Senator Sinodinos politicises an important issue through criticism of individuals. We fiercely, unequivocally, strongly oppose BDS and, unlike the armchair purists— (Time expired)