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

I thank the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate for the question. I would make the point to him that we have in fact spoken about Israel's right to defend itself from day one. I went back to the motion which we drafted—the bipartisan motion immediately after October 7's horrific events, horrific attacks—and in that motion that we put to the opposition and that was ultimately supported on a bipartisan basis there's reference to the fact that Israel has a right to defend itself. In fact, my recollection is that, last week, the Prime Minister made that same point. I said the same thing on Thursday. The Prime Minister made the same point again on Friday, and the Deputy Prime Minister made the same point on the Sunday. In other words, that has been the consistent position.

But I would make this point. What we also say is how Israel defends itself matters. What we also say is that international law matters. What we also say is that international humanitarian law which protects us all also matters. That is a consistent position. It may be a position that the opposition have difficulty with—to have a position which says very clearly that we believe that there is a moral imperative for the upholding of international law, which includes the protection of civilians, because that protects us all. It protects all of us. Australia should always stand on the ground of adherence to international law, including relevantly the protection of civilians and the various other aspects of the Geneva conventions and international law which protect us all.