Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I am taking the question representing the Prime Minister but I could equally take it as foreign minister. I want to start by saying that there are few issues that are more central for members of the Jewish community than the status of Jerusalem. It is more than a political issue; it is about history, about faith and about identity. It is at the heart of Israel's origins and its future and, importantly, there can be no lasting peace that does not address its status. The status of Jerusalem is so sensitive that, for the overwhelming majority of the international community, it has remained a final status issue to be resolved as part of any peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian people.

What the government has done is reaffirm Australia's previous longstanding and bipartisan position of that fact: that Jerusalem is a final status issue that should be resolved as part of any peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian people. I would remind the chamber that, notwithstanding some of the commentary, this has been Australia's position for decades. This was not changed by the Gorton government following the Six-Day War. It was not changed by Malcolm Fraser, Bob Hawke, John Howard or Malcolm Turnbull. Regrettably, there was one exception, which occurred during the period of the Morrison government, a period in which the shadow minister was a member of the cabinet. We know why that was. It was because he thought he could gain political advantage by announcing recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and relocating our embassy.