Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Wong for her question. Today's announcement by the Prime Minister is one that follows consideration of a number of important issues that affect Australia's interests in the Middle East. I do want to emphasise that there is no change in this process—and the Prime Minister has emphasised this several times this morning—in support of peace and stability in the Middle East. Australia remains firmly committed to a durable and resilient two-state solution, one that allows Israel and the Palestinian state to exist side by side, within internationally recognised borders.

The Prime Minister has made observations this morning about the location of Australia's embassy in Israel. He has said that he has considered the arguments put forward by a number of commentators, including our former ambassador to Israel, Dave Sharma, that those arguments are ones which have contributed significantly to the international debate, that, in that process, Australia should consider recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, without prejudice to its final boundaries, that we acknowledge East Jerusalem as an expected capital of a future Palestinian state and that we should be open to examining the merits of moving Australia's embassy in the context of our support for a two-state solution. He looks forward to the discussion on this matter with other world leaders and counterparts through the upcoming series of international meetings: the G20, the East Asia Summit and, of course, APEC itself. Any consideration will be subject to a rigorous consideration of Australia's national interests.

The PRE SIDENT: Senator Wong, a supplementary question.