‘Genocide:' Ex-Premier lashes Israel
Speaking to Radio National, the former NSW premier and Labor heavyweight said Israel was using 'mass starvation against the civilian population as a weapon of war'.
'There's a pattern of behaviour here that really demands comparison with the worst of the last 100 years, of Stalin's Ukraine, of the Warsaw Ghetto, of Mao's Great Leap Forward,' he said.
'Unspeakable cruelty is being visited against babies and children in the enforcement of something not seen in the modern world, that is an advanced state using mass starvation as a weapon of war and giving effect to a genocide.'
Israel has started a 'tactical pause' to allow aid agerncies to tackle the hunger crisis in Gaza, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government was not to blame for the situation, adding there were 'secure routes' for aid. The former NSW premier Bob Carr weaponisation of starvation was 'giving effect to a genocide'. NewsWire / Dylan Coker Credit: News Corp Australia
While he welcomed stronger comments from Anthony Albanese that Israel had 'quite clearly' breached international law by withholding aid to civilians in Gaza, Mr Carr called for further action.
He urged the Prime Minister to follow French President Emmanuel Macron to recognise Palestinian statehood when he attends the United Nations General Assembly in September.
On Sunday, the Labor leader watered down the action, stating there needed to be more detail on how a Palestinian state would function, plus assurances there would be no involvement from Hamas.
'How do you exclude Hamas from any involvement there? How do you ensure that a Palestinian State operates in an appropriate way which does not threaten the existence of Israel?' Mr Albanese told the ABC.
'And so we won't do any decision as a gesture. We will do it as a way forward, if the circumstances are met.'
However Mr Carr said Australia was 'giving the impression that we need the comfort of Britain' before recognising Palestine, and urged Mr Albanese to show leadership and act sooner.
'I just think Australians are ready to see our country to show a flash of independence, strength and maturity by moving with the French and not huddling and waiting for the sanction that Britain would give us when Downing Street finally gets round to it,' he said. Mr Carr said Anthony Albanese should not wait for Britain before publicly stating Australia will recognise Palestinian statehood at the United Nations General Assembly. NewsWire/ Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia
Mr Carr's comments have been criticised internally, with Labor Friends of Israel co-convener Nick Dyrenfurth calling on Mr Carr to 'promptly apologise' for the overly provocative comments.
Dr Dyrenfurth said that while he was 'gravely concerned with the Netanyahu government's actions in Gaza,' there is 'no genocide taking place'.
'Mr Carr is wilfully lying and deliberately stoking community tensions with extremist language and deliberately provoking his former friends in Australia's Jewish community with Nazi slurs,' he said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
West Australian
27 minutes ago
- West Australian
Reform roundtable countdown: Business leader calls for flexible thinking as government finalises agenda
A top business leader has called for unions to be more flexible and avoid positions that are simplistic and not constructive at next month's economic roundtable. The call from Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry head Andrew McKellar echoes Treasurer Jim Chalmers, who has said he wants everyone to approach the roundtable with an open mind, although he doesn't mind people being blunt and upfront with their views. It comes amid a slew of pre-roundtable discussions hosted by ministers to feed ideas into the main event being held on August 19-21. Dr Chalmers is preparing to issue a final round of invitations aimed at getting experts in specific areas, such as tax reform, in for one of the three days of talks. He's already invited 22 representatives of unions, business groups, the tech and banking sectors, and senior officials from Government bodies as the 'core' attendees at the summit. Mr McKellar said he was willing to take the Government's intentions for reform at face value. But he cautioned that contributions like that of the Australian Council of Trade Unions — which last week blamed poor managers for sluggish productivity — were simplistic and not constructive. 'The risk is that there will be a tendency to approach the agenda from … fixed starting points. I think we've got to try and break that down,' he told The West. 'Obviously, we were concerned with the sort of characterisation that the ACTU put forward last week, which I think was, was not in the spirit that we would expect. 'We do expect something more constructive than simply, you know, a critique that productivity ills are due to the failures of management.' The nation's peak union body released research last week showing that about two in five Australian workers reported feeling burnt out at work, and only about half thought there were enough staff in their workplace to get the job done. ACTU secretary Sally McManus said, 'Too many employers' had equated lifting productivity with pushing people to work harder for longer, leading to burnout. Mr McKellar acknowledged that, naturally, everyone would bring different priorities, but was optimistic there would be sufficient expertise to help people find common ground. 'When you see all the commentary that is now coming in and the ideas that are out there in the broader dialogue that's occurring in the lead up to the roundtable, then I think that's helping to sift what some of those priorities should be,' he said. Ministers are in the midst of running a series of consultations in their portfolios to also feed ideas into the reform roundtable. Industry Minister Tim Ayres will talk to people in the innovation and tech space on Friday and hold a second discussion on minerals processing and smelting next week. Housing Minister Clare O'Neil will host five roundtables next week, convening industry, innovators, unions, local government and State and Territory building, planning and housing ministers. Energy Minister Chris Bowen intends to get the key players in his sector in a room together next week as well, while Health Minister Mark Butler will ask for ideas on how to lift productivity in health and social care — some of the toughest areas to lift on traditional economic measures — on August 13. Resources Minister Madeleine King has held two sets of talks already with the sector and has more planned with unions and key stakeholders across Northern Australia. An infrastructure discussion earlier in July focused on supply chains and freight movement, while ongoing consultation on environmental laws and approvals processes will feed into the productivity discussion. Small Business Minister Anne Aly heard from business owners in a gathering at Parliament House last week. 'The top theme that regularly came up through the roundtable was the perennial issue of red tape,' she told The West. 'I look forward to continuing to work closely with the sector, and with my State and territory counterparts, to ensure small business is central in our thinking as we develop programs and policies that affect them.' The Productivity Commission will release the interim versions reports on the 'five pillars' for reform over the next fortnight, starting on Thursday, which it says will give the nation a blueprint for a switch to a 'growth mindset'. Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock, Productivity Commissioner Danielle Wood and Treasury secretary Jenny Wilkinson will lead discussions on each of the three days, focusing on economic resilience, productivity, and budget sustainability, respectively.
AU Financial Review
27 minutes ago
- AU Financial Review
Trite to say, but Israel is losing global PR battle
Regardless of where the blame lies for the humanitarian aid crisis in Gaza, the tragic pictures of starving Palestinian children are jolting public consciousness and galvanising global opinion regarding Israel's war to eliminate Hamas and the question of recognising the independent state of Palestine. Israel had a legitimate right to root out the terrorist organisation responsible for the October 7 atrocities that murdered 1200 Israeli citizens. However, 661 days later, the conflict is continuing to wreak unspeakable suffering on Gazans deprived of essential supplies of food and water.
Perth Now
27 minutes ago
- Perth Now
ASX jumps on the latest Trump deal
Australia's sharemarket snapped a brief two day losing streak on Monday after US President Donald Trump announced his latest trade deal and the major banks bounced back from their recent falls. The benchmark ASX 200 index closed up 30.8 points or 0.36 per cent at 8697.7 after hitting an intraday high of 8704.9, while the broader All Ordinaries finished in the green up 29.20 points or 0.33 per cent to 8,963.50. The Australian dollar slipped from a nine-month high on Friday buying 65.51 US cents at the time of writing. On an overall positive day, eight of the 11 sectors finished in the green, led by the telecommunications sector, the big four banks and healthcare stocks. The ASX had a good day after Donald Trump announced a trade deal with the EU. Gaye Gerard / NewsWire Credit: News Corp Australia Shares in Telstra gained 0.81 per cent to $4.95, REA Group jumped 1.34 per cent to $236.09 and CAR group added 1.72 per cent to $37.89. Market heavyweight CBA gained 1.17 per cent to $174.90 offsetting half the falls in recent days, while NAB gained 0.67 per cent to $37.76, Westpac added 0.54 per cent to $33.21 and ANZ group closed 0.30 per cent higher at $30.31. Healthcare darling CSL gained 1 per cent to $270.59, Sigma Healthcare added 1.41 per cent to $2.88 and ResMed finished 0.97 per cent higher to $41.70. The markets jumped after US President Donald Trump announced a deal with the EU to end four months of negotiations between the two economic powerhouses. Following the discussions, the EU will face a 15 per cent tariff from the US, which is down from the 25 per cent the President announced in April. European Commission chief Ursula von de Leyen described it as 'a big deal, a huge deal, bringing: stability and predictability' to the two trading partners. IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said global markets around the world jumped on these trade deals. 'In terms of the trade deals with Japan and Europe, the tariff rate that will be implemented came in lower than initially threatened and the market is looking very positively on it,' Mr Sycamore said. Uranium shares were one of the rare misses during Monday's trading, dragged down by news out of Boss Energy which flagged challenges out of its Honeymoon uranium project. Boss Energy shares plummeted 43.97 per cent to $1.90, Deep Yellow fell 8.34 per cent to $1.65 and Paladin Energy dropped 4.43 per cent to $6.91. 'That is the uranium sector in a nutshell,' he said. 'It is one where you have to be prepared for extraordinary volatility. 'This was a disappointing performance day and a disappointing report by Boss Energy.' In company news, Helloworld Travel shares soared 14.14 per cent to $1.69 after the business upgraded its guidance to somewhere between $58-$62m. Stealth Group's shares also soared 11.02 per cent to $0.70 after announcing a 50 per cent jump in pre-orders on the back of the soon to be released iPhone 17. Bubs Australia shares jumped 2.94 per cent to $0.18 after the infant formula maker announced Joe Cootes as its new chief executive, effective immediately.
