Albo's true believers are running out of patience
LABOR
Sean Kelly highlights the different expectations of a second-term government: it will be judged by how it tackles the real problems we face, not just by whether it delivers on its pre-election commitments, as with its first term (' 100 days in, how does PM measure up? Voters are harder judges second time around ', 11/8). Anthony Albanese seems open to planning big changes, but wants those changes endorsed by the electorate before they are implemented.
All well and good, providing the government plans major reforms that it can therefore take, well-prepared, to the next election. Effective action on reducing carbon emissions is one major policy change that is needed. Our real carbon emissions are changing little, with our claims to reductions being largely bedded in land use and forestry, which are estimates based on temporary changes that can be reversed at any time, and on hopes for carbon capture and storage, where emissions are not reduced, just hidden in deep holes. The battle against climate change is at a critical point. We need genuine, substantial emissions reductions. If this government requires a popular mandate to make the changes necessary, it must get to work on plans now, set an ambitious 2035 target – and be ready to call an early election.
Chris Young, Surrey Hills
Party division
Sean Kelly's analysis of Labor's first 100 days and the main challenges faced by the Albanese government fails to mention the unease within the party over major policy settings, particularly in foreign policy and the environment. Last weekend, the Victorian ALP branch voted to support demands for a parliamentary inquiry into AUKUS, to suspend participation in AUKUS and to remove AUKUS from the ALP national platform. This puts the Victorian branch of the ALP at odds with federal Labor and raises the prospect of internal division not seen in recent years.
Members have also expressed dissatisfaction with Environment Minister Murray Watt's approval of Woodside's North West Shelf gas extension and the failure to include a climate trigger in new environmental laws. The next national ALP conference will be held in 2026 and promises to be a tussle between the Left faction opposing AUKUS and supporting stronger action on the environment and the ruling Centre Right faction that supports AUKUS and still wants to cash in on Australia's fossil fuel reserves.
Graeme Lechte, Pascoe Vale
Show some guts
As a rusted-on Labor voter I am becoming increasingly disappointed. I speak to many people at clubs I attend and the feeling coming from them is the same. It's a message that members want Albanese to have some 'old-fashioned guts' – he has a mandate and should use it for society's benefit. To fix the tax system and stop being scared he might lose a few votes. It may even win over some Liberal voters I speak to. He should speak up about Palestine – he will never please everyone, but a lot of people have put faith in him and Labor to create a more just and fair community and to speak up in the world. Trust me, he will be disappointed at the next election if he loses us rusted-on Labor voters who had put faith in him.
A lot of us want to see some old-fashioned guts. For Albanese to raise his voice and tell the community in no small terms he is not afraid to take the plunge and create a more fair and just society. That is what we want from a Labor government.
Nola Cormick, Albert Park
Rare opportunity beckons
I believe Anthony Albanese has a very good knowledge of the history of Australian Labor governments, so his timidity about the prospect of significant policy reform is disappointing. Labor MPs need to study the barriers that the Whitlam government faced in its short term in power. The Hawke-Keating governments struck it lucky and were able to implement change based on the charisma and popularity of Bob Hawke. The Albanese government has a massive majority and must step forward and embrace critical change, as the window of opportunity to reform is likely to only be open once or twice in a century. And one such time is now.
David Fry, Moonee Ponds
THE FORUM
Selling over reserve
As someone who has just been involved in a house sale where the price at auction went way beyond our reserve price, we need to acknowledge that buying property is always going to leave a number of participants disappointed (' Real estate agents to back underquoting crackdown '; 'Rank estate agents according to sale price accuracy', Letters, 11/8). And the advertised price range is a guide but inevitably is immensely variable.
The successful buyers in our sale had not attended an open for inspection. We, as vendors, are obviously glad they came to the auction and wanted our property so badly that they purchased at a price in excess of what we'd believed was a realistic expectation. Our assessment made just prior to the auction was based on other recent sales locally. But on the day it turned out there were more competing prospective buyers than those who'd made pre-sale offers or estimates.
Who's to blame for the tough real estate situation? Certainly not the hardworking, professional real estate agents involved in our sale. We rely on a market to exchange properties and some people have more resources than others.
Philippa Harrison, Somers
Do your research
After over 40 years in real estate, I have never seen so much coverage of what should be a legitimate and transparent way of selling real estate. We can thank government interference for this. An auction is supposed to be just that, no matter whether it's a car, a painting or a house. It's up to the buyer to conduct their own due diligence and inspect properties that are for sale, and check the results in the areas they are looking. These are published every weekend. An informed opinion can be formed as to a ball-park range for the sale price. Many people have been doing this, including myself out of interest for years, and on one occasion, my estimate was bang on the sale price. Other times I'm usually within 5 per cent. It takes time but it works.
Abolish the quoting system and get rid of the statement of information, it is irrelevant and there is no comparison of 'apples with apples'. If on auction day, no one bids, ditch the vendor bid, convert to private sale immediately.
Ian Anderson, Surrey Hills
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The Age
29 minutes ago
- The Age
Australia will recognise a Palestinian state. But what does that actually mean?
Statehood would be unlikely to have an immediate effect for people in Gaza or on Israel's war with Hamas, but it could help influence conversations about the future of the Middle East. Albanese said on Monday that a two-state solution was 'humanity's best hope to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East, and to bring an end to the conflict, suffering and starvation in Gaza'. What is Palestine's current status? Gaza and the West Bank form modern-day Palestine, officially referred to by the Australian government as the Occupied Palestinian Territories. It has no unified government, standing army or settled borders. Professor Ben Saul, chair of international law at the University of Sydney, said Palestine met most of the requirements to be legally considered a state, including having a permanent population and the ability to enter into international relations, but it did not have an effective, independent government. He said that because of its disputed status, other countries' recognition carried more power in supporting Palestinians' right to self-determination. Almost 150 of the 193 UN member states recognise Palestine as a state, including many developing countries. Militant group Hamas, designated a terrorist organisation by countries including Australia, has run the Gaza Strip for almost 20 years. The Palestinian Authority, through which Australia officially engages with Palestine, has limited autonomy in the West Bank. The Oslo Accords in the 1990s gave the authority direct control of about 20 per cent of the territory. There are numerous Israeli settlements across the West Bank, and these have been expanding. Israel retains control of security in much of the West Bank. According to the CIA, about 468,300 Israeli settlers lived in the West Bank in 2022. The agency estimated that as of 2021, 236,600 Israelis lived in East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed in 1980. Australia and most countries officially oppose the settlements on the basis they are illegal under international law. Israel disputes the illegality of the settlements. The Palestinian Authority, which was formed in the 1990s as a result of the Oslo Accords, is the territory's representative at the UN, where it is a non-member observer state and has no vote in the 193-member General Assembly. What will happen at the United Nations General Assembly session in September? Australia has joined France, the UK, and Canada in saying it will separately recognise a Palestinian state and use the 80th session of the UN General Assembly, which opens September 9, as the stage for that move. Professor Saul said the announcement at the UN was a political move rather than a legal one, but the choice of location was important. Loading 'Recognition is just the political act. You could do it by press release … it's just that doing it in a high-level, multilateral forum like [the UN] is absolutely designed to have a much greater impact politically,' he said. Saul said the declaration could come as a joint statement, but it was likely each leader would want to speak for their country. 'Some of these states have been issuing joint statements lately … so it could be done as a joint statement,' he said. 'I think it would more likely be that each leader, assuming they attend, would want to state their own government's position on it.' Does that mean Palestine will become a member of the United Nations? Probably not. Membership of the UN is separate from statehood and 'is open to all peace-loving states that accept the obligations contained in the United Nations charter.' The charter contains rules, including a prohibition on the use of force against other nations. To join, a prospective member must submit a letter to the secretary-general of the UN, currently António Guterres, stating it will abide by the charter. Then it requires the votes of at least nine of the 15 members of the UN Security Council. Any of the five permanent members – the US, China, Russia, France and the UK – is allowed to veto membership. Of the five permanent Security Council member countries, Russia and China recognise Palestine. If France and the UK do as they have indicated, the US will be the sole member not to recognise Palestine. The US has historically vetoed Palestinian applications. Loading If no state vetoed the application, the secretary-general would then present it to the full General Assembly of the UN, where it would require a two-thirds majority vote. The United States vetoed a push in April for Palestinian statehood. What conditions have been put on potential statehood? Speaking to reporters in Canberra on Monday, Albanese said recognition was happening in part because of commitments the government had received from the Palestinian Authority. Loading 'Our government has made it clear that there can be no role for the terrorists of Hamas in any future Palestinian state,' he said. 'This is one of the commitments Australia has sought and received from President [Mahmoud] Abbas and the Palestinian Authority.' Albanese said the PA had committed to demilitarise and hold general elections, and reaffirmed its recognition of Israel's right to exist – commitments he said were bolstered by the Arab League's previous 'unprecedented demand' that Hamas disband and surrender its weapons to the authority. 'This is an opportunity to deliver self-determination for the people of Palestine in a way that isolates Hamas, disarms it and drives it out of the region once and for all,' Albanese said. He and Foreign Minister Penny Wong did not say what Australia would do if the authority does not fulfil its promises. Loading The UK and Canada's recognition in September is also conditional. The UK will recognise a Palestinian state unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire in Gaza, stops building settlements in the West Bank and commits to a two-state solution. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long rejected such terms and almost certainly won't agree by the deadline. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said his country's decision to recognise Palestine was predicated on the PA committing to 'much needed reform', the demilitarisation of the Palestinian state, and the release of the Israeli hostages still held by Hamas. Do Palestinians support a two-state solution? Support for a two-state solution sat at about 30 per cent for both Palestinians and Israelis in 2022, down from about 50 per cent in 2016, according to the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research. Support has dropped even further in Israel since the October 7 attacks. The Palestinian Liberation Organisation, a nationalist coalition then led by Yasser Arafat, recognised Israel's right to exist in peace at the start of the US-backed peace process in 1993 that set up the Palestinian Authority. It was hoped that it would be a step towards statehood. Hamas' establishing charter called for the destruction of Israel, but in 2007, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said the group accepted the fact of an Israeli state but would not recognise it, according to the Wilson Centre. In 2017, the group presented a new charter accepting a Palestine with borders as they were immediately before the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, signalling tacit acceptance of two states. Loading The Wilson Centre also records another Hamas leader, the late Ismail Haniyeh, saying after the October 7, 2023, massacres by the group that: 'All the normalisation and recognition processes, all the agreements that have been signed [with Israel] can never put an end to this battle.' With Reuters, AP
Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
Recognition not enough: calls for more action on Gaza
Australia has been urged to go further than recognising a Palestinian state by following up with sanctions and an arms embargo on Israel. The calls from pro-Palestine groups follow Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's confirmation of Australia's intention to recognise the state at the United Nations General Assembly meeting in September. The move, which has been criticised by the Israeli ambassador as counterproductive to peace and the release of hostages, puts Australia in alignment with allies such as France, the UK and Canada. But statehood recognition could be serving as a "political fig leaf" for western states, warned Australian Palestine Advocacy Network president Nasser Mashni. "Recognition is completely meaningless while Australia continues to arms-trade with, diplomatically protect and encourage other states to normalise relations with the very state perpetrating these atrocities," he said. "Palestinian rights are not a gift to be granted by Western states." Labor Friends of Palestine welcomed the move but also urged the federal government to go further on sanctions and an arms embargo, citing "a groundswell" of member support. The federal government has maintained Australia is not exporting weapons to Israel but there has been scrutiny over the contribution of Australian companies to the supply chain for fighter jets used by the Israeli military. More than two million Palestinians face severe food insecurity, based on United Nations projections. At least 90,000 protesters marched across the Sydney Harbour Bridge earlier in August to call on the government to sanction Israel. Israeli Ambassador to Australia Amir Maimon said Palestinian recognition would "not change the reality on the ground". "Peace is not achieved through declarations; it is achieved when those who have chosen terror abandon it and when violence and incitement end," he said in a statement. Mr Albanese said formal recognition was part of a co-ordinated global effort. "A two-state solution is humanity's best hope to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East and to bring an end to the conflict, suffering and starvation in Gaza," he said. Mr Albanese said recognition would need to guarantee designated terror group Hamas, which de facto governs Gaza, would play no role in its future government. Coalition foreign affairs spokeswoman Michaelia Cash said Labor's decision risked "delivering Hamas one of its strategic objectives of the horrific terrorism of October 7" and put Australia at odds with its most important ally in the US. The crisis in Gaza began when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1200 people and taking about 250 more hostage. Israel's military response has since killed more than 61,000 people, according to Gaza's health authorities. Israel has denied that the population is suffering or dying from starvation, even though it has throttled the flow of aid to Gaza for months, international human rights groups have said.
The Age
an hour ago
- The Age
Netanyahu's sharp jab at Australia came at critical moment and will do little to help his cause
'Today, most of the Jewish public is against the Palestinian state for the simple reason that they know it won't bring peace, it will bring war,' he said. 'To have European countries and Australia march into that rabbit hole, just like that – fall right into it – and buy this canard, is disappointing. And I think it's actually shameful. 'But it's not going to take, it's not going to change our position. We will not commit national suicide to get a good op-ed for two minutes. We won't do that.' His words are like rotten tomatoes for the Liberals and Nationals to throw at Albanese. Unanswered questions Loading There are serious arguments against recognising a Palestinian state at this point. What would this state look like? The borders are contested and overrun by war. The leadership is unknown. The dominant fighting force in a large part of the territory, Hamas, is a terrorist group. The key condition for the existence of this state, at least in Western diplomacy, is that it accepts Israel's right to exist and does not threaten Israel's security. This means leaders are choosing to recognise Palestine before they can be sure it meets this condition. The assumption is that Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, could lead a Palestinian state. Several have spoken to him in recent days – including Albanese last Wednesday. Albanese says Abbas has reaffirmed the acceptance of Israel, the demilitarisation of a Palestinian state and the need for elections. 'Australia's position is predicated on the commitments we have received from the Palestinian Authority,' say Albanese and Wong in their formal statement. The obvious challenge is that Abbas has authority over the West Bank, as chairman of Fatah, the largest group within the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, but he cannot speak for others. Hamas won 44.45 per cent of the vote in the 2006 election that led it to take control of Gaza in violence against Fatah and the Palestinian people. It is dedicated to the destruction of Israel. Peaceful co-existence may seem a bitter joke to the people of Gaza after more than 60,000 deaths in less than two years. Witnesses to the war have told this masthead about the indiscriminate casualties, the starvation, the flattening of homes and the restrictions on medical aid. National leaders have avoided recognising a Palestinian state in the past, but the war is so horrific that this symbolic recognition is presented as urgent and necessary. Now Albanese has joined leaders from Europe and Canada in his call. Leaders use it to apply pressure on Netanyahu over the sheer scale of the suffering. As a road map to peace, however, it is only a sketch. Loading Netanyahu has been losing support among Western leaders for months because of the ferocity of his military strategy. Some chose not to take a firm stand against him in the earlier stages of the war, but this changed as the full horror grew worse, month after month. After losing so many national leaders, Netanyahu needed to keep some on side. His remarks on Sunday only pushed Albanese further away.
