Claire Chandler (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Once again the coalition absolutely does not support the Greens' attempt to suspend standing orders to attempt to debate an entirely one-sided, misleading and inflammatory motion. We have repeatedly seen the Greens behave disgracefully over the crisis in the Middle East by refusing to acknowledge that it is the terrorist organisation Hamas that is responsible for the death and conflict in Gaza. It is Hamas which broke a ceasefire and murdered 1,200 women, children and men in cold blood. It is Hamas which took hundreds of hostages who have been held in atrocious conditions for more than four months and still refuses to release them today.

We all want this conflict to end as soon as possible. We all want to see civilian casualties minimised. Hamas could have surrendered at any point. They could have released the hostages—those innocent civilian hostages—at any point. But once again we see the Greens coming into this parliament with a motion that completely ignores the fact that the Hamas terrorists can end the conflict in Gaza today and ensure aid can flow to the people who need it without restriction. If the Greens want to suspend standing orders to debate the situation in Gaza or debate UNRWA, then they should do so on a motion which accepts the facts rather than misrepresents them and deliberately omits any mention of Hamas. It is very, very troubling to see a political party in this country adopt a deliberate strategy of ignoring the horrific crimes of Hamas terrorists.

This motion for the suspension of standing orders, just like so many of the stunts that the Greens have attempted, is designed to create media stories which shift the focus away from what Hamas is doing, from the crimes that Hamas is committing. It is a fact—and, indeed, one that has been called out from many quarters, including from the government—that the Greens, as a fringe political movement, are seeking, with stunts like these, to ingratiate themselves with the hard left fringe, which also wants to let Hamas off the hook for its terrorism. The most hypocritical part of their actions is that it is Hamas which is the cause of the death and suffering of people in Gaza. Once again, the Greens are seeking to suspend standing orders to debate a motion about death and suffering in Gaza which doesn't even mention Hamas, which is the cause of that death and the cause of that suffering.

They seek to suspend standing orders to debate a motion calling for the immediate restoration of funding to UNRWA, even though UNRWA itself dismissed members of its own staff for alleged involvement in the 7 October terrorist attacks. How irresponsible can the Australian Greens be, to seek to suspend standing orders to try and get the Senate to call for the restoration of funding to an organisation which is currently under investigation for having staff participate in a terrorist attack? No Australian taxpayer money should ever go to an organisation involved in supporting terrorism, and it is staggering that the Greens come into this chamber and want to move for the suspension of standing orders to try and debate a motion calling for funding to be restored, before an investigation is even complete.

The coalition has been using the usual forms of parliament, including the Senate estimates process, including question time, to ask important questions of the government regarding UNRWA. We have taken the opportunity to ask questions about the various other aid agencies which are being funded by both the Australian government and other nations to provide critical aid and support in Gaza. Rather than seeking to suspend standing orders as a stunt, as the Greens are doing right now, we in the coalition have been asking substantive questions about the potential for organisations like the Red Cross to provide more assistance, noting that the government has announced additional funding.

Rather than trying to suspend standing orders to demand funding be restored to UNRWA, even though UNRWA sacked staff due to alleged participation in terror attacks and remains under investigation, Greens senators in this place could be asking questions of substance about whether Australia and like-minded countries can support the civilian population through other reputable aid organisations.

We oppose the suspension of standing orders because the Greens have demonstrated time and again that they aren't responsible. Each and every time they raise this issue in this chamber, it is with the aim of minimising blame on Hamas.