Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I inform the Senate that the President has received the following letter from Senator McKim:

Pursuant to standing order 75, I give notice that today I propose to move "That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:

In recognition of the National Day of Action for Palestine, and in recognition of the State of Israel's renewed assault on Gaza that demonstrates an ongoing and blatant disregard for international law, that the Australian Government imposes sanctions on the extremist Netanyahu government, ends the two-way arms trade and calls for an end to the genocide against the people of Gaza, system of apartheid, and illegal occupation."

Is the proposal supported?

More than the number of senators required by the standing orders having risen in their places—

Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:

In recognition of the National Day of Action for Palestine, and in recognition of the State of Israel's renewed assault on Gaza that demonstrates an ongoing and blatant disregard for international law, that the Australian Government imposes sanctions on the extremist Netanyahu government, ends the two-way arms trade and calls for an end to the genocide against the people of Gaza, system of apartheid, and illegal occupation.

Mehreen Faruqi (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today is the National Day of Action for Palestine. Last year, during this time in Ramadan, I couldn't stop thinking about Palestine. Every moment—fasting, breaking my fast, sleeping, waking, working—Palestine was on my mind. I kept wondering: how could things possibly get any worse? The genocide was live streamed for the world to see. It wasn't hidden. I don't think I will ever be able to forget the horrific images of children being bombed, being snipered and being starved to death. And what was our government's response? Best case, we saw the mildest of criticism, always framed in Israel's right to defend itself. Some government MPs even travelled to Israel to meet with war criminals and watch the destruction firsthand. I hope this election marks the end of their time in parliament.

So here we are in another Ramadan. The brief respite Palestinians had was destroyed when Israel broke the ceasefire, although we know that there never really was a ceasefire. Then came the criminal act of cutting off life-saving aid, tightening the noose around the neck of some of the most vulnerable people on earth, followed by the resumed slaughter of hundreds of men, women and children. In just a few days, refugee camps and hospitals were being bombed once again. The settler colonial state continues its attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, seizing more land to expand its apartheid settlements. Just this week Hamdan Ballal, the Palestinian co-director of Oscar winning film No Other Land, was abducted and assaulted by settlers.

So this Ramadan I am wiser. I know that there is no red line for Labor when it comes to Palestine. There are no limits to their inhumanity and their cowardice. There are no limits to their shamelessness, hypocrisy and double standards when it comes to protecting the apartheid State of Israel. They ruthlessly pursue anyone who dares to criticise Israel or challenge their narrative. They drove Senator Payman out of their party. They withdrew artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino from the Venice Biennale. Academic Randa Abdel-Fattah faces relentless targeting. The level of impunity they provide Israel and its partner the US was there for all to see when neither our Prime Minister nor our foreign minister could bring themselves to even denounce Trump's plan to literally ethnically cleanse Gaza and take it over. We know you have double standards. When Russia commits war crimes, you uphold international law and standards. But, when Israel does the same, there is complete and utter silence.

I do not know what else I can say to convince you to act. There are at least 50,000 dead, likely closer to 200,000, mostly women and children. If that's not enough, I don't know what will be. So I will say this. These are the final words of a 23-year-old Al Jazeera journalist, Hossam Shabat. Of course Israel and their bootlicker friends in the conservative media claim that Shabat was a fighter, something the Committee to Protect Journalists called unsubstantiated. It is a well-known tactic of Israel to cover their tracks of murdering journalists to try and cut off the coverage of the genocide. Shabat's final message was this:

If you're reading this, it means I have been killed—most likely targeted—by the Israeli occupation forces. When this all began, I was only 21 years old—a college student with dreams like anyone else. For past 18 months, I have dedicated every moment of my life to my people. I documented the horrors in northern Gaza minute by minute, determined to show the world the truth they tried to bury. I slept on pavements, in schools, in tents—anywhere I could. Each day was a battle for survival. I endured hunger for months, yet I never left my people's side.

…   …   …

I ask you now: do not stop speaking about Gaza. Do not let the world look away. Keep fighting, keep telling our stories—until Palestine is free.

The Greens and I will keep fighting. We will keep speaking out about Palestine. We will never be silenced.

Dave Sharma (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Undoubtedly, the conflict in the Middle East has been a tragedy for all the people involved.

Mehreen Faruqi (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's not a conflict; it's a genocide.

Dave Sharma (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Faruqi, I listened to you in silence. I hope you can extend me the same courtesy. Undoubtedly, it's been a tragedy for all those involved—the Palestinian people of Gaza, the Israeli people and the people of the region. But what I find troubling about this motion and many others like it is that it only ever attributes moral agency to one party in this conflict, and that is Israel. There are multiple parties to this conflict. The conflict was started by the terrorist organisation Hamas unleashing one of the most brutal and barbaric terrorist acts of the modern era on the civilian population in Israel and taking many of the civilians hostage. Where is the motion calling on Hamas to release the hostages that would help bring this conflict to an end? Where is the motion calling on Hamas to relinquish its role as the political and military authority in Gaza that would help bring this conflict to an end? That's something that the Palestinian Authority, the Fatah leadership, did just last week. Where is a motion condemning a number of the regional actors who are involved in sustaining this conflict, whether it's the Houthis in Yemen or it's Iran and its support of the armed terrorist proxy groups that are found in abundance in the region?

We've got to where we are today because Hamas refused multiple offers and approaches to extend phase 1 of the ceasefire. Phase 1 of the ceasefire, which expired on 1 March, was meant to provide for the release of hostages and the cessation of hostilities. Hamas was offered, by the US mediator Steve Witkoff and by Qatari and Egyptian authorities and intermediaries, the option to extend that ceasefire so that the fighting would continue to cease, so that the people of Gaza could continue to return to their homes and so that Israel could get its hostages back. Hamas still holds some 60 hostages, of which we have hopes that, perhaps, 25 are alive. But Hamas refused these attempts. It didn't want to continue with the ceasefire. It wanted to resume hostilities and resume conflict.

As long as Hamas remains in control of Gaza, as long as Hamas does not accept that it can no longer play a future role in Gaza and as long as Hamas does not accept that the continued detention of hostages is an ongoing war crime, I don't see much alternative for the nation of Israel other than to seek to recover its hostages. That is undoubtedly a terrible tragedy for the Palestinian people, the Gazan population and their region. But any sovereign state would expect its government to do its utmost to recover its hostages. They've tried it through negotiations. Hostages have been released through negotiations. Hamas is refusing to release any more hostages. So, until such time as Hamas can be brought to its senses—and motions like this that make no mention of the role of Hamas, Hamas's moral agency and Hamas's instigation of the conflict, frankly, do not help—

Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Sharma, please resume your seat. Senator Faruqi, interjections are always disorderly, but this is a really difficult topic. You were heard in silence, and I ask that you extend that courtesy, please, to other senators.

Dave Sharma (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Motions like this which make no mention of the role of Hamas—which do not recognise that Hamas has moral agency and which do not recognise that Hamas can restore the ceasefire at any day, at any time by agreeing to proposals put by Egyptian and Qatari mediators or by agreeing to the US special envoy's proposals to resume the ceasefire and continue the release of hostages—do not help bring that about. They might signal to an audience that's important to you where you sit on the conflict, but they do not help resolve the conflict. Ultimately, this conflict will be resolved when Hamas releases all the hostages and recognises it cannot and should not play any future role in the governance of Gaza. The Palestinian people—the Gazan population—have been protesting about Hamas's actions in resuming this conflict and breaking this ceasefire in recent days. The other, more legitimate element that governs Palestine, the Palestinian Authority, led by Fatah, have called on Hamas to relinquish any future role in the governance of Gaza, because they recognise the fate of the Gazan Palestinian population is being prejudiced by Hamas's continued intransigence here.

So by all means let's discuss this conflict in this parliament, including in this chamber, but let's also recognise that there are multiple parties that have moral agency in this conflict, and Hamas has been the most intransigent actor of all of them. Hamas is the one that broke the original ceasefire on 7 October 2023. Hamas is the one that broke the continuation of this ceasefire, which had been in existence these past two months.

Varun Ghosh (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today we engage in a debate on a motion that, in the view of the government, should not be supported. It's not a considered motion. It's not a motion that advances the cause of peace or builds unity in our community here in Australia.

The conflict in the Middle East is a long and complex one, and it is characterised by divergent perspectives and disputed history. It's existed for a very long time. But the current war in Gaza was begun on 7 October 2023 by a heinous terrorist attack by Hamas on the people of Israel. That attack resulted in the worst loss of Jewish life in a single day since the Holocaust. The anguish of that day has been extended by the taking of more than 250 hostages, and we have heard and learned of the horror of their treatment as time has gone on. The war that has followed has been a humanitarian disaster. The unbearable scenes of conflict, the loss of innocent life and the devastating effect on the Palestinian people have shocked the people of Australia and people around the world.

On behalf of the people of Australia, the government has consistently sought to advance the goal of a just and lasting peace that ensures the ongoing security of the State of Israel and its people and establishes a stable and peaceful Palestinian state which realises the sovereignty of the Palestinian people. The government has consistently called for an immediate and unconditional return of the hostages taken by Hamas and for a ceasefire—a cessation of hostilities—to permit the negotiation of a peace agreement that will produce that two-state solution and a stable and peaceful region. The government has sought to play an engaged and responsible role in this debate and in promoting peace, recognising that we are not a major player in the Middle East but have a respected voice and a history of support for international institutions and multilateral action in international affairs. That is why we are supporters of the ceasefire and also seek the release of the hostages by Hamas as part of that agreement.

Inflammation and division within our community do nothing to advance the cause of peace. Ignorance of the importance of multilateralism in resolving international disputes, and particularly armed conflict, does nothing to advance the cause of peace, nor do other forms of extremism. In the end, in this parliament, we represent peoples and communities around Australia. Since 7 October 2023, in a variety of different ways, we've also seen behaviour in Australia that is unrecognisable to many Australians. We've seen a rise in antisemitism and antisemitic incidents; we have seen a rise in racist and Islamophobic incidents; we've seen a community more divided on this issue; and we've seen actions and behaviours that we would not traditionally have seen, nor would we want to see them replicated. It is important that, in ensuring our future as a community and ensuring we succeed as a country, we remain a place where people of a variety of races, backgrounds, religions and views feel comfortable and safe. We need to respect each other, and we need to push for that unity. It is in that spirit and vein that the government continues to seek to advance the cause of peace in the Middle East while also providing leadership in relation to ensuring that those conflicts are not replicated in Australia and that Australia remains a united community where people of all backgrounds can feel safe and respected.

Lidia Thorpe (Victoria, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We have witnessed more than 18 months of active genocide in Palestine, in Gaza and in the West Bank—over 18 months of murdering children; of targeting hospitals, medical staff and journalists; of destroying entire neighbourhoods and wiping out entire families; of the most horrendous crimes, broadcast live to the world; of cutting humanitarian aid; of apartheid; of ethnic cleansing; and of brutal and unrelenting bombing and expansion into Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. Israel has never had any genuine regard for any peace process with Palestinians over the past 78 years of its existence. This colonial project has always been hell-bent on its mission of total annihilation of the Palestinian people and their aspirations for justice, equality and the establishment of a Palestinian nation.

The only way to stop Israel from executing its genocidal mission is for massive international pressure, particularly from Western nations who are supplying their army with vital military equipment. Just last week the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights released a report called More than a human can bear, detailing horrific crimes of sexual violence carried out by Israel against Palestinians. Yet this report has been conveniently and largely ignored by the Australian government and the mainstream media outlets. We have seen the deaths of two journalists, Hossam Shabbat and Mohammed Mansour, while mainstream media refused to report on the cold-blooded murder of their colleagues.

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has determined that Israel is practising racial segregation and apartheid in the occupied Palestinian territory. Bob Hawke, during apartheid in South Africa, successfully pressured the global financial sector to divert from South Africa, which directly contributed to the collapse of the apartheid regime. Why is Australia treating Israel's apartheid differently? Since Israel invaded Gaza in 2023 we have seen a tidal wave of solidarity and of staunch resistance, a movement of millions of people taking to the streets, making their voices heard, asking their representatives to call the accumulating atrocities what they are: a genocide. Yet this government hasn't even got the guts to call it so.

The major parties this morning, in opposing my genocide bill, showed they are not willing to act on genocide and accountability for war crimes or crimes against humanity. This country supplies weapons to Israel, without which they wouldn't be able to commit these crimes. This isn't just complicity; it is enabling of war crimes and genocide. The government claims it has legal advice affirming that its actions are in line with international law, yet it refuses to release this.

It is exactly what one would expect of a colonial institution that never even signed a treaty with its First Peoples. This colony was built on genocide and is now enabling another one. On the national day of action for Palestine, I call on this government to repair the hurt you have caused by finally acting and imposing an arms embargo and sanctions on the State of Israel—

Andrew Bragg (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Home Ownership) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Can you just resume your seat for a second. Senator Thorpe, I invite you to proceed and to conclude your remarks, but can you please put the piece of clothing back on.

You can't have slogans in the Senate.

Lidia Thorpe (Victoria, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We need to stop the genocide. Good?

Andrew Bragg (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Home Ownership) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Please proceed.

Lidia Thorpe (Victoria, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Ceasefires are not enough. Palestine needs liberation. In the words of Hossam Shabat, from his final prewritten message:

… do not stop speaking about Gaza. Do not let the world look away. Keep fighting, keep telling our stories—until Palestine is free.

Free Palestine! Free Palestine!

Andrew Bragg (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Home Ownership) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Please resume your seat. Senator Steele-John, you have the call.

Jordon Steele-John (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It brings me incredible sadness to speak to our parliament today and to, yet again, call on the Australian government to take action to hold the State of Israel to account for their ongoing genocide in Gaza. Since the apparent breakdown of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, the State of Israel has launched a series of devastating attacks on civilians, hospitals and journalists. There are countless examples of the State of Israel breaching international humanitarian law.

In the last few weeks we have seen the passage of aid into Gaza being blocked once again, and we have seen the deaths of hundreds of adults and children. Hospitals, including the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital and the Nasser Hospital, have faced bombardment. Statements from healthcare workers on the ground at the Nasser Hospital are devastating. The level of both trauma and injury, and the scenes of sheer inhumanity can never be justified. Human Rights Watch have shared that their witnesses at three hospitals in Gaza have described that the State of Israel's military forces have denied electricity, food, water and medicines, and that they have mistreated health workers and deliberately destroyed medical facilities.

I would like to use some of the time here today to share with the Senate the experience of Dr Mohammed Mustafa. Dr Mustafa is from Perth, and he is currently in Gaza working in the Baptist hospital as a volunteer with the Palestinian Australian New Zealand Medical Association. In statements in the last few days he has described the situation as 'catastrophic'. He has shared that 'it seems like we have been cut off from the world', and, as Dr Mustafa described the situation—the lack of medicine, the lack of ventilators and the impact of bombardment on children—he called on the Australian government to do something.

Meanwhile, the Australian government has failed to take significant action. Human Rights Watch have called out the lack of political and diplomatic pressure. It is clear that the Australian government is not doing all it can to prevent further atrocities. Amnesty International Australia has called on the Australian government to 'exert pressure on the Israeli government to immediately end its renewed bombardment of the Gaza Strip' by putting an end to military coordination and to work to 'restore the flow of humanitarian aid, guarantee unrestricted access to food and medicine, and rebuild Gaza's decimated health and sanitation infrastructure.' What is clear is that Australia is not a helpless bystander. We have the power and we should be using it.

The Greens are a party of peace, and my colleagues and I continue to call for an immediate, permanent and unconditional ceasefire, and an end to the genocide and the occupation—and, yes, for the release of all hostages and political prisoners. Along with human rights experts, I urge the Senate to take action today. We must work to rectify the injustice we see in ways that enable both Palestinians and Israelis to live in peace, security and equality in line with international law.

David Shoebridge (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

():  Just yesterday, seven Jewish groups from across Australia signed a statement condemning the Israeli government's decision to break the hostage and ceasefire agreement negotiated in January 2025 and resume the horrific bombardment of Palestinians in Gaza. Those groups were the Jewish Women 4 Peace Action Ready Group, the Australian Jewish Democratic Society, Australian Jewish members of the leadership team of Sydney Friends of Standing Together, Jews for Palestine WA, Jews Against the Occupation '48, the Jewish Council of Australia, and Emet. I won't have time to read the full statement, but I think it's instructive that we see the courage and the moral compass that these groups have shown in delivering that statement to the Australian government and the Australian people. The statement says, in part:

We, Jewish Australians, oppose the Israeli government's decision to break the hostage and ceasefire agreement negotiated in January 2025 and resume the horrific bombardment of Palestinians in Gaza. 

It further says:

On 18 March, the Israeli military launched a wave of airstrikes in Gaza, massacring over 750 (and rising) Palestinians, including countless children. Survivors of Israel's assault face excruciating conditions, including having to endure amputations without anaesthesia. Palestinians in Gaza are suffering from famine, the destruction of healthcare systems, relentless aerial attacks, and are now being subjected to a new wave of violence.

They conclude:

We reject any naive suggestion that the Netanyahu government has renewed fighting in order to bring back the Israeli hostages. The resumption of the bombardment of Gaza only endangers the lives of the hostages further, while ensuring death and destruction of Palestinians in Gaza. 

We call on the Australian Government to immediately censure the Netanyahu government's resumption of war in the strongest terms and move to imposing sanctions on the state of Israel.

Can I say on behalf of my party and, I know, millions of Australians: I thank them all for the courage they've taken in putting that clear statement on the record.

When we ask what the complicity of the Australian government is, we should reflect upon what this parliament has done in the last 12 months. In the last 12 months we have taken no steps to stop the trade of weapons with Israel. In fact, we've gone further. We have removed all constraints on exports of weapons and military equipment between Australia and the United States. And do you know what the Trump administration did earlier this year? They removed any consideration of international humanitarian law for the transport of weapons and methods of killing from the United States to the rest of the world. So we are now in the situation where we send weapons to the United States with no constraints, no controls and no licences, and they can now send weapons made in Australia anywhere in the world, to any conflict, including Israel, without any consideration of humanitarian law. We are deeply complicit in the F-35s and we are now complicit in our entire supply chain. We call on the government to act.

Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What's happening in Gaza right now and what has happened in Gaza for 18 months now is not a conflict, as some in here have described it today. It's not a war, as the apologists for what is going on over there claim it is. It's not a conflict; it's not a war. I'll tell you what it is. It's a slaughter. It's a barbaric murder spree. It is an ethnic cleansing. It's a genocide. It is a war crime. It's resulted in tens of thousands of people, countless of them—innocent babies and children—being blown to bits, being dismembered, being buried alive under rubble. And Australia is complicit; Labor has made us so.

We're not just supplying weapons components and military hardware. We're not just supporting the US and, presumably, Israel in their military operations through facilities like Pine Gap. I mean, we could not even bring ourselves to criticise US President Donald Trump, that dangerous demagogue and fascist, when he openly admitted to having a goal of ethnically cleansing Gaza so he could redevelop it into some kind of bizarre, obscene resort for wealthy colonisers. It is utterly disgraceful how complicit Labor has allowed us to become in this country. We need to take strong action to hold the war criminals to account and to end this barbarous slaughter in Gaza.

Andrew Bragg (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Home Ownership) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the motion moved by Senator McKim be agreed to.