Raff Ciccone (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'll just make the point that the quorum count wasn't about me. But, in any event, I'm here to speak. I rise to reflect on the first anniversary of the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack and express my enduring support for the people of Israel and the Australian Jewish community. Like many of my parliamentary colleagues, I was deeply moved at last night's commemorative event held at the Embassy of Israel in Canberra to mark the first anniversary of those deadly October 7 attacks. It was a solemn gathering and a moment of reflection to honour the more than 1,250 innocent people—predominantly Israelis but also people from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Mexico, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and, sadly, Australia—who were brutally murdered in the most significant loss of Jewish life in a single day since the Holocaust in World War II. I thank the Israeli ambassador, Amir Maimon, for inviting us to his home to join him and his staff, his family and members of the Australian Jewish community for such a moving and difficult occasion of mourning.

As was evident last night and in vigils held right across the country and the world, the horror of October 7 has by no means diminished. Hamas's massacre of 1,250 civilians and the kidnapping of over 250 people, of which 101 remain in captivity and two are children, are unforgivable. Innocent people, many of them children, were victims of acts of senseless violence: rape, torture, mutilation, burnings and murder. Our government, like those of all right-thinking nations of the world, has condemned the attacks by Hamas on Israel one year ago, and we condemn them now. There are no reasons that can be given to justify such acts of such callous murder. Barbarism is one way I would describe it. There is no context in which what happened on October 7 is excusable.

Our government proudly stands with Israel, and it will always stand with Israel. This is because standing with Israel is part of who we are as the Australian Labor Party. Let us not forget the role of HV Evatt, Labor's Minister for External Affairs in the Chifley government, as he was one of the architects of the 1947 United Nations partition plan. Doc Evatt's work leading those negotiations as chair of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Palestinian Question and later as president of the UN General Assembly was instrumental to the formation of the modern State of Israel. He considered it his greatest achievement while in office.

When Prime Minister Bob Hawke welcomed the Israeli president to Australia in 1986, he rightly observed the 'friendship between our countries goes back to the foundation of the modern State of Israel'. Since Israel's modern foundation as a sovereign state, Labor has celebrated Israel's many successes as a thriving democracy in the region, a democracy where civil rights, women's rights and LGBTQIA+ rights are respected and upheld. We have celebrated the wonderful contribution its peoples have made to Australia.

It saddens me that there are some in this place, particularly on the crossbench and in the Australian Greens political party, who have sought to cause division in our community on this issue. Some have encouraged people, protesters, to attend rallies where words of hatred are spoken, where symbols of terror are displayed. Some have attended these demonstrations themselves, getting on stages and speaking in ways that seek to divide Australians rather than uniting each and every one of us. All the while, some have chosen to peddle misinformation, to exploit genuine concern in our community over the situation in the Middle East, simply for political gain, through their anti-Israel rhetoric.

One common piece of misinformation peddled by them is that Australia is supplying weapons to Israel. Any suggestion that Australia has supplied weapons to Israel is simply false. The Department of Defence has confirmed repeatedly that Australia has not supplied weapons to Israel—and this distinction is also worth mentioning—since the Hamas-Israel conflict began and for at least the past five years. We have seen repeated attempts by some senators, by some from the Australian Greens party, to pursue these mistruths in estimates, and the Greens continue to push this false narrative to create more tension.

This type of behaviour must be called out, and it must stop. It must stop because words do matter. What we say in this place matters. We are being watched and listened to by millions of Australians. Some do listen, as they probably are tonight, to the Senate, watching what the leaders of their community—that is us, the members who are elected; we are leaders of our community—say about this very issue.

There are some whose mission it is to inflame division in our community. I hate to say that, but it is simply true. Those people do not belong in this place. But we do live in a democracy, and we have to respect each other and how we get here in this place. It is a message worth saying publicly and proudly, that people who do come into this place, who are elected to make decisions on behalf of their community, have some level of responsibility and need to look at how they conduct themselves in this chamber.

The language of division, the language of hate, has a very real effect outside these walls. I condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the rise of antisemitism in our country and those who encourage it. It breaks my heart that the Australian Jewish community have been and continue to be subjected to such hateful prejudice. People are hiding behind the fact that we don't call them antisemitic; we call them Zionists. They are using words, trying to be clever and smart about the debates that occur and the discourse that is happening right now, but they are picking and choosing words so that technically they're not racist. But we know that there are a lot of people in this place who are using racist motives because of their deep hatred for Jewish people.

A people whose history has been so characterised by persecution by others should feel safe in a country like ours. Australia is built on harmony. We embrace multiculturalism, unless you're Jewish. Is that what we're trying to say to people in the Jewish community? A country of multiculturalism, tolerance and peace—that's who we are as Australians. There is no place in our community for antisemitism, hate speech or any kind of racism.

The Jewish community in our country are proud Australians who have contributed so much to our way of life. In the same way, my parents came from Italy and made sacrifices for their children. Guess what? There are people like me, my brother and others in my family who have benefited from the sacrifices of their parents. In the same way, many Jewish mums and dads and their parents have made sacrifices for their next generation, their kids. They are also now members of the federal parliament, which is something that would have been unimaginable for families like mine and others in this place. Australia is the lucky country, and it should stay that way.

Like every Australian, they have the right to live their lives without fear. This is not to say that people don't have a right to protest and express their views; of course they do. That's what living in a democracy is all about—democracies like Australia and democracies like the State of Israel. That is what it's all about. But in exercising such rights comes responsibilities. It is incumbent on those who do that they do so in a respectful and law-abiding manner and in a way that does not incite hatred or violence. Today we might discuss the issues in the Middle East, but tomorrow there'll be another issue. We've always got to have a long-term outlook in terms of how we conduct ourselves in public.

Our government will continue to advocate for a peaceful solution to the situation in the Middle East, but, in doing so, you can only do it where both sides also recognise each other's borders. That is something that is also worth noting in this debate. There are those in the Middle Eastern region who do not want peace—not all, but there are most, I think, who don't. There are those in the region who do not respect the rights of others to exist. Our government regards many of these organisations as terrorist organisations. They are Hamas and Hezbollah. But, in condemning them and those who support them, we must not overlook the role of Iran in facilitating their trade in terror. Iran has a lot to answer for—sponsoring these terrorist organisations and using them as proxies for the war. Rather than building peace in the region, innocent civilians are dying—their own citizens and many others in neighbouring countries.

Israel has a right to defend itself. It has a right to defend itself against terror and those who practice it. Israelis have the right to sleep safely in their beds, to gaze upon a sky that isn't littered with rockets. The 101 hostages that remain in captivity have the right to return to their families to live a life of peace, as do the many, many Palestinians. There is no solution to this conflict other than a two-state solution, but this solution can only come about through the elimination of terror and those who practice it. It is my hope to one day see an Israeli state and a Palestinian state side by side, where the citizens of each of their respective countries can live in peace and with dignity, respecting each other's borders.

As we mark one year since the October 7 attacks, we pause to remember the many innocent victims, call for the release of all hostages, stand in solidarity with the vibrant Australian Jewish community and continue to pray for peace in the region.