Penny Allman-Payne (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on what is a national disgrace. As we watch in horror at the unfolding genocide beamed into our living rooms from the Middle East, the Labor government has used one of the most secretive military export systems in the world to support the State of Israel's atrocities against the people of Gaza. Providing military aid to this regime is a stain on the character of this country and it implicates us all in the slaughter of Palestinian people. Over the last five years, Australia has provided $10 million in arms and ammunition to Israel, and today it's reported that the Australian government has provided Israeli weapons company Elbit Systems with a $190 million defence contract. In doing so, the Labor government is contributing to the means through which these companies continue to facilitate the murder of civilians, obliterating entire families and orphaning children.

It's despicable that Labor continues to completely deny Australia's involvement in the supply of arms to Israel. Their complicity in Israel's crimes against humanity must never be forgotten. What hope is there for a lasting peace in Israel and Palestine when countries like Australia deny the reality of what is happening in Gaza, while facilitating the supply of the very weapons that Israel is using to carry out its indefensible campaign of violence? Supporting military exports to aid the genocidal ambitions of an apartheid state is a deep moral failing of this government, and it makes Australia a party to an egregious campaign of desecration and destruction. Ceasefire now. Free Palestine.