Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

We live in a world, tragically, where there is immense suffering. Over the last year tens of thousands of people have lost their lives in Myanmar, Ukraine, Sudan and, of course, many other conflicts around the world, including in the Middle East. But all we get from the Greens are one-sided motions focusing on one country and one conflict. That's the approach that comes from those opposite.

This, again, is a one-sided motion which ignores the cause of the current war in Gaza. There was no war in Gaza on 6 October, and there were no Israeli troops in Gaza on 6 October. The Greens motion fails to even mention Hamas, who on 7 October undertook the largest killing of Jews on a single day since the Holocaust. They seem to want to wipe that from history. The motion fails to mention those atrocities. It fails to mention that Hamas continues to hold hostages taken on 7 October, who have been held hostage now for 123 days. It ignores the fact that Hamas—its leaders, its operatives, its supporters in Hezbollah, its supporters among Houthi rebels and support coming from Iran and elsewhere—continue to call for a repeat of the 7 October attack, for Israel to be destroyed and for their aspiration of what would amount to genocide of the Jewish people. The reality is no nation could or would live with the ongoing threat that is posed to its citizens by Hamas. No nation would live with that threat on its doorstep having lived through the horrors and terror that occurred on 7 October.

Is the tragic loss of life in Gaza something we should all grieve and wish to see come to an end? Of course, it is. Is the tragic loss of life that occurred in Israel something we should all grieve and wish never to be repeated? Of course. That's just as we should wish the tragic loss of life in Myanmar, Ukraine, Sudan and everywhere else in conflict around the world to come to an end. But posturing motions from the Australian Greens in the Australian Senate that are one-sided, singularly focused and calling for a ceasefire without consideration of the consequences will do nothing to actually prevent a repeat of tragic deaths in these circumstances around the world.

The best ceasefire that could occur is not what the Greens call for, which is one that would enable Hamas to remain in leadership in Gaza and would enable Hamas to re-arm, regroup and fulfil their publicly stated aspiration to repeat the horrors of 7 October. An appropriate ceasefire would be one which called for Hamas to disarm and be disabled, for its leadership to surrender, for hostages to be released and for the vast tunnel network that is estimated to be bigger than the New York subway system, built under hospitals, schools and public infrastructure right across Gaza, to be destroyed, giving the Palestinian people living in Gaza the chance to not be used as human shields by Hamas terrorists but actually have an opportunity for peace to be negotiated in their future lives.

The Greens motion is one-sided when it comes to the International Court of Justice interim ruling as well, which did recognise Israel's right to self-defence. It did acknowledge that Hamas initiated the war on 7 October and further found that Hamas has neither surrendered nor given any undertaking not to repeat the terrorist attack, and there is no obligation under international law for Israel to agree to a ceasefire given Hamas's actions. The coalition strongly opposes Australia supporting South Africa's case in the ICJ, which is as an unbalanced as the Greens are in their posture and position. This parliament should be reiterating the comments and commitments it made in its bipartisan motion in October last year unequivocally condemning the Hamas attacks on 7 October, standing clearly with Israel and their inherent right to defend themselves, calling for the immediate and unconditional release of hostages, supporting efforts to ensure humanitarian access into Gaza, calling for the protection of civilian lives and the observance of international law and condemning all forms of hate speech, in particular the rising antisemitism we have seen. That's not what we get from the Greens, but it is certainly what we stand for.