Dr WOODRUFF (Franklin – Leader of the Greens) – Honourable Speaker, I rise again to express on behalf of the Greens our outrage and profound sorrow at what is happening right now in Gaza, Palestine. Israel has now killed more than 60,000 Palestinian people in its war. More than 150,000 people have been formally recorded as injured, many more actually. Many organisations, including the United Nations have called it for what it is, a genocide. The famine that’s been declared in Gaza is not a natural disaster; it’s a result of the state of Israel blocking food and aid to Palestinians. They are treating trusted humanitarian organisations with restrictive tactics that just serve their military agenda. They don’t serve humans. Formally, more than half a million people in Gaza are in famine. Hundreds of people are going days without anything to eat. People are dying from starvation and lack of access to food. All these deaths are preventable. They’ve been killed while attempting to collect aid. By next year, 43,400 children are expected to be at severe risk of death from malnutrition, and that has tripled from the recent estimates. The images of starving children in Palestine are on our screens every night and they are genuinely haunting.
Journalists who bravely try to report on the conditions in Palestine are being deliberately targeted with drone attacks and murdered by the Israeli government. More than 200 journalists have been recorded killed to date.
In response, tens of thousands of people marched across Australia recently to demand an end to Israel’s war crimes. In Hobart, I was proud to walk with the Tasmanian Palestinian Advocacy Network-led rally and with the thousands and thousands, over 5000 Tasmanians, who attended. At the rally, the co‑president, Palestinian Faraj Shahid spoke of the ongoing famine and destruction in Palestine:
My family in Gaza are stuck in a church. I don’t know which day I’ll wake up to get the message to tell me that my family have passed away and that they’ve been murdered, killed.
Despite this, the Albanese Labor government still won’t acknowledge a genocide is occurring. Israel has now bombed six countries. The latest strike on Qatar is more proof that Israel has no intention of ending its genocidal violence. There seems to be no line in the sand for the federal government, no act of cruelty Israel could commit or international law they could breach that would force Prime Minister Albanese and minister Wong to act.
While it’s good that Australia is taking the step to recognise Palestine as a state, it’s not enough. Their words won’t save lives. It won’t feed people. The rest of the world is stepping up against Israel. The Scottish Parliament has voted for a boycott. Spain, only yesterday, imposed an arms embargo on Israel. By our government’s inaction, we are all complicit in the genocide that is occurring in Gaza. Israel faces no serious consequences from Australia and they continue on their rampage. We are an important player in the global world.
Israel is committed to continuing their war in Palestine. Just yesterday they ordered the evacuation of the city of Gaza. Palestinians are being forced little by little into a smaller section of Palestine. Their homes are being bulldozed. This is displacement on a massive and horrifying scale occurring before our eyes.
My federal Greens colleague Mehreen Faruqi has been a staunch advocate for action from the Albanese government. I quote from her:
Australia must choose what side of history to stand on. It can choose to continue to stand back and do nothing while innocent people are bombed, slaughtered and starved.
Or it can choose to sanction Israel, expel the Israeli ambassador, and impose an arms embargo.
Australia has taken actions on Russia for invading Ukraine. They sanctioned them. It’s time for Australia to do the same for Israel. We have a moral and legal obligation to do this. A whole country’s lives depend on us. We are all complicit if we don’t do everything we can to act against it.
