Albanese's Palestinian statehood decision won't please everyone – but it's better than the horrifying status quo
Staffers gathered in windows above the prime minister's courtyard, ready to take photos of the announcement unfolding below. Anne Aly, the first Muslim woman to sit in cabinet, watched from one floor up as Albanese and Wong fronted the media, while the country's most senior bureaucrat, Steven Kennedy, paced nervously nearby.
Australia, Albanese declared, would join partners including France, the UK and Canada in recognising Palestine at the United Nations next month, saying peace could only be temporary until both Israeli and Palestinian statehood was permanent.
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Reflecting on the bloody war in Gaza, and the escalation currently being engineered by Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, Albanese said recognition was a step towards a two-state solution and would help stem the humanitarian crisis playing out on televisions and smartphones around the world.
'The toll of the status quo is growing by the day, and it can be measured in innocent lives,' Albanese said. 'The world cannot wait for success to be guaranteed. That only means waiting for a day that will never come.'
Despite being signalled for months – and coming after images of starvation out of Gaza and huge numbers of demonstrators crossing the Sydney Harbour Bridge – Monday will stand as a landmark moment of Albanese's prime ministership.
Albanese himself has been making speeches about Palestinian statehood for decades. Under pressure from Labor's base, he made his move as part of a global pushback against Israel's plans for more fighting in Gaza, anger at Israel's settlements, and as calls for humanitarian aid fell on deaf ears. Five Al Jazeera journalists were killed on Monday, victims of a targeted Israeli airstrike on their tent. Former minister Ed Husic has described the growing energy against the war as a tide of 'moral momentum'.
Labor was ultimately satisfied with commitments from the Palestinian Authority to demilitarise Gaza, reform governance, hold elections, stop payments to prisoners and provide basic services including education.
Albanese secured the assurances from Mahmoud Abbas, the 89-year-old leader of the authority, the organisation set up in the wake of peace agreements in the 1990s. Critically, Abbas recognised Israel's right to exist.
Whether Albanese's decision is a turning point, or remembered as a symbolic move in the decades-long mire of conflict, will be determined by whether Abbas can deliver, and whether Netanyahu, who appears to be extending the war to ensure his own political survival, will ever allow peace.
Albanese himself is also aware he is breaking with the United States and risking the ire of Donald Trump, who is still one of Netanyahu's closest backers. Trump has linked Canada's decision on recognition to tougher trade tariffs.
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Like Netanyahu, the opposition leader, Sussan Ley, and frontbenchers Angus Taylor and Michaelia Cash, say recognition rewards Hamas for its terror and murder. The Liberals echoed the Trump administration's concerns that any advantage to Hamas would slow down progress on peace, given previous ceasefire talks have failed.
But Netanyahu is increasingly isolated and Australia's decision reflects growing anger about Palestine's suffering among everyday people here.
The move won't be enough for some supporters, either. The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network said trade and diplomatic relations with Israel should be cut off, warning Palestinian rights are not the gift of western states. The Greens want an end to weapon component exports and Labor Friends of Palestine say more sanctions are needed.
They are almost certainly right that more needs to be done. But Australia recognising Palestine is a step towards peace – and as Wong said, doing the same thing but hoping for a different outcome is the only certain road to failure.
Tom McIlroy is Guardian Australia's chief political correspondent
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