Wong calls for international action on Gaza as government weighs timing of Palestinian recognition
France, the United Kingdom and now Canada say they will recognise a Palestinian state at the next United Nations General Assembly in September, provided several conditions are met, including that Hamas plays no role in Palestine's governance.
It adds further pressure on the Australian government to explain its own timeline for recognising Palestine, which Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government would only do if it was a "meaningful action".
Senator Wong on Thursday did not rule out Australia making a similar declaration, reiterating that it was a matter of "when, not if" as she pointed to several developments, including the Arab League nations' unprecedented step to call on Hamas to disarm and relinquish power in Gaza.
"This is something that we are thinking very carefully about," she told ABC's Afternoon Briefing.
"What Canada and the United Kingdom and France and the Palestinian Authority and the Arab League are all seeking to do is work out what we can each do to break the cycle of violence that is consuming the Middle East.
"We cannot continue to stand by and watch what is happening in Gaza and not take the sorts of actions you are seeing.
"We have to see we can do as an international community to change the pathway that the region is on."
Earlier in the day, Treasurer Jim Chalmers also said he personally welcomed the momentum towards recognising a Palestinian state in an interview with Sky News.
"From a personal point of view, I welcome this momentum, this progress that's been made in the international community," he said.
"From an Australian point of view, recognition of the state of Palestine is a matter of when, not if."
Australia and several other nations signed a statement earlier this week expressing a willingness to recognise the state of Palestine and work on an architecture to guarantee Gaza's reconstruction and the disarmament of Hamas.
But Mr Albanese said on Sunday, before the UK or Canada's announcements, that Australia would not follow France to recognise Palestine in September.
"What we will do is we'll make a decision based upon the time. Is the time right now? Are we about to imminently do that? No, we are not," he said on Sunday.
He added that the United States also had a "critical" role in negotiating to move the conflict in the Middle East forward.
Mr Albanese spoke again with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer overnight to discuss "the situation in Gaza", according to a readout of the call.
On that call Mr Albanese reiterated Australia's long-standing "and strong" support for a two-state solution to Mr Starmer, who announced his nation's move to recognise Palestine two days ago.
Mr Starmer laid out his framework for taking forward recognition of Palestine "as a driver for peace", and the leaders agreed on the importance of using international momentum to secure a ceasefire, the release of all hostages and the acceleration of aid, "as well as ensuring Hamas did not play a role in a future state".
Israel's foreign ministry has warned nations moving to recognise Israel that doing so would reward Hamas and harm efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza, as well as the framework for the release of hostages.
Mr Albanese said yesterday that for a two-state solution to be "genuinely" advanced, Middle Eastern states would also have to recognise Israel, and that Israel would need to have confidence that it could exist without a threat to its security.
Twenty-eight UN member states do not recognise Israel, including 15 nations in the Arab League, though their statement earlier this week expressed hope that relations between the countries could be normalised.
The prime minister has also pointed to unanswered questions about how an unwilling Hamas would be removed and democratic institutions rebuilt in Gaza.
Coalition frontbencher James Paterson questioned on Sky News the value of a "premature" recognition of Palestine.
"If you were to recognise a Palestinian state today, as the Albanese government is leaning towards doing, you would be recognising a state which is in part governed by a terrorist organisation, which is in part governed by an organisation which continues to hold 50 Israelis hostage, which has sworn the destruction of the state of Israel and the people in it, which has caused death and devastation for the people of Gaza," he said.
"I think it's going to be a very long time before any state can recognise a Palestinian state, Australia included, because Hamas has shown no interest in returning the hostages, certainly no interest in demilitarising or giving up its control over Gaza."
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ABC News
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ABC News
23 minutes ago
- ABC News
The junior doctor from Perth trying to build a children's hospital in Gaza
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The Australian
an hour ago
- The Australian
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