Hastie's net zero push sparks spray at ‘braindead morons'
'I think this is the latest example of the braindead morons on the hard right of the liberal and national parties, wanting to drive their votes to even lower depths,' Mr Reece said.
'They're just trying to alienate yet another constituency and make themselves completely irrelevant in Australian politics.'
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9 News
an hour ago
- 9 News
Australia calls for aid to enter Gaza amid 'unimaginable' suffering
Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here Australia and a long list of allies have decried the "unimaginable" suffering in Gaza , calling on Israel to let in aid and allow foreign aid groups to operate. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and her counterparts in 23 other countries and the European Union declared late last night that "famine is unfolding before our eyes". The latest mass statement on the conflict seemed aimed in large part at convincing Israel to reverse onerous new registration requirements for foreign aid groups. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and her counterparts in 23 other countries and the European Union declared late last night that "famine is unfolding before our eyes". (Alex Ellinghausen) The ministers warned essential international non-government organisations (NGOs) might be forced to leave the Occupied Palestinian Territories "imminently", making the humanitarian situation worse. "The humanitarian suffering in Gaza has reached unimaginable levels. Famine is unfolding before our eyes," Wong and the other foreign ministers said. "Urgent action is needed now to halt and reverse starvation. Humanitarian space must be protected, and aid should never be politicised." Australia, France, Canada, the UK and other countries called on Israel to "provide authorisation for all international NGO aid shipments and to unblock essential humanitarian actors from operating." "Immediate, permanent and concrete steps must be taken to facilitate safe, large-scale access for the UN, international NGOs and humanitarian partners," the foreign ministers said. "All crossings and routes must be used to allow a flood of aid into Gaza, including food, nutrition supplies, shelter, fuel, clean water, medicine and medical equipment. Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip, Monday, August 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi) "Lethal force must not be used at distribution sites, and civilians, humanitarians and medical workers must be protected." The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs last week called on Israel to drop new restrictions introduced in March forcing international NGOs to share sensitive personal information about their Palestinian employees or stop operating. The office and NGOs warned "most" foreign groups could be de-registered by September 9 or sooner, forcing them to withdraw all international staff. "Already, NGOs that are not registered under the new system are prohibited from sending any supplies to Gaza," it said. Leader of the Government in the Senate and Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra on Monday 11 August 2025. fedpol Photo: Alex Ellinghausen (Alex Ellinghausen) "In July this year, Israeli authorities rejected repeated requests by 29 NGOs to ship humanitarian aid to Gaza citing the organisations as ' authorised'. "This policy has already prevented the delivery of life-saving aid including medicine, food, and hygiene items. "This most profoundly affects women, children, older people, and persons with disabilities, further aggravating the risk of being subjected to abuse and exploitation." Wong and some of the other foreign ministers last week said the aid groups' "exclusion would be an egregious signal". A group of Palestinians sit in the shade of their tent amid destroyed buildings on a hot summer day in Gaza City, Tuesday, August 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi) The war was triggered by Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, in which militants abducted 251 people and killed about 1200 people, mostly civilians. Israel's air and ground offensive has displaced most of the people in Gaza, destroyed vast areas, pushed the territory toward famine and, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, killed more than 61,400 Palestinians. The foreign ministers last night thanked the US, Qatar and Egypt for their help in negotiations and called for "a ceasefire that can end the war, for hostages to be released and aid to enter Gaza by land unhindered". CONTACT US Property News: Rubbish-strewn house overtaken by mould asks $1.2 million.
West Australian
5 hours ago
- West Australian
Aaron Patrick: Penny Wong can't answer the pivotal question about Gaza
When Foreign Minister Penny Wong was asked the pivotal question about her Government's recognition of a Palestinian state - why would Hamas give up power? - the woman who spent more than a year working on a historic shift in Australian policy had no answer. 'I speak for Australia,' she told Sarah Ferguson on the 7.30 program Monday evening. 'We are working to deliver a change in the cycle of violence that we have seen, and to work with others to try and provide some hope in what has been a very dark time.' Senator Wong, though, was clearer about another crucial point: Australia's recognition is not conditional on any actions by the Palestinians. The decision has been made, come what may. There was a different emphasis earlier Monday, when Anthony Albanese referred to the 'conditions' he had placed upon the Palestinian Authority's leader, Mahmoud Abbas. The Prime Minister said Mr Abbas had promised to reform the corrupt but largely compliant institution, which Australia will, in a month's time, consider represents a new country, the State of Palestine. 'And the conditions are ones that are consistent with the declaration in June, that recognition of the State of Israel, which of course the Palestinian Authority would argue had occurred with the Oslo Accords,' Mr Albanese said. He was referring to a letter sent in June by Mr Abbas to French President Emmanuel Macron that said: 'Hamas will no longer rule Gaza and must hand over its weapons and military capabilities to the Palestinian Security Forces.' Mr Abbas said he was 'ready to invite Arab and international forces to be deployed as part of a stabilisation/protection mission with a (UN) Security Council mandate'. In other words, the nominal Palestinian leader was asking for the international community to give him the Gaza Strip, from which the Palestinian Authority was violently ejected in 2007. Rather than the agreement towards peace Mr Albanese portrayed the conversation as, Mr Abbas seems to have repeated the offer he made to Mr Macron. On Monday, two months after the French president posted Mr Abbas' Hamas denunciation on X, Mr Albanese claimed credit: 'This is one of the commitments Australia has sought – and received – from President Abbas and the Palestinian Authority.' Mr Albanese's grasp of the intricacies of Middle East politics, and geography, has been questioned by people who have discussed the region with him in private. On Tuesday, appearing on the Sunrise program, he did not appear to know or remember that Israel abuts the Mediterranean Sea. 'Hamas don't support two states,' he said. 'They support one state. In their own words, 'from the river to the sea', from the Jordan river to the ocean.' In the US, a Democratic diplomatic veteran of the conflict did not agree with the switch. Former US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said recognising a Palestinian state before Hamas was removed 'would fortify proponents of terror on the Palestinian side and rejectionists of Palestinian statehood on the Israeli side.' Mr Albanese and Ms Wong say their decision was influenced by a call from 22 Arab countries on July 31 for Hamas to stop fighting and release its hostages. As anti-Israel fervour swept through the streets of the Western world, the Arab position was seen as tacit recognition of Hamas's responsibility for the war. The Arab's position showed that Hamas is being isolated, and a combination of Western pressure on Israel's right-wing government and international support for the Palestinian Authority could help remove it from power, end the violence in Gaza and bring peace closer, Mr Albanese and Ms Wong argued. 'We need to make sure that Hamas is isolated,' the Prime Minister said on Monday. 'The comments by Arab League nations have made it clear that that is their position as well.' There's an important problem with the position. Hamas is not an Arab-sponsored organisation. It is funded by Iran, the Persian power seen as a destabilising force across the Middle East by most Arab leaders. Iran's Islamist leaders are extreme anti-Semites impervious to Arab pressure. Why they would stop funding their Hamas proxies in a war against what they call the Zionist Entity is unclear. Without Iranian pressure, why Hamas's remaining leaders would retire from war and politics is a question not even Australia's formidable Foreign Minister could answer. Amid arguments about the pros and cons of international recognition, less symbolic steps towards peace seem to be happening. A regional media outlet, Sky News Arabia, reported Egypt, Qatar and Turkey are drawing up a cease-fire and hostage-release for consideration by Hamas. The deal would require the release of all hostages, and the bodies of some who have died, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. The Israeli army would move to less aggressive posture and Hamas fighters would pause attacks while negotiations were held for a permanent cease-fire. The impetus for the renewed peace effort appears to be a desire to avoid another mass Israeli incursion into Gaza, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu foreshadowed on Sunday. Which suggests that, sadly, violence rather than talk can bring an opponent to the negotiating table.
The Age
7 hours ago
- The Age
Anthony Albanese walks a tricky geopolitical tightrope
To submit a letter to The Age, email letters@ Please include your home address and telephone number below your letter. No attachments. See here for our rules and tips on getting your letter published. MIDDLE EAST There is no doubt that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is walking a geopolitical tightrope as he tries to negotiate the competing narratives of this awful conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people (' Former Israeli prime minister rejects Palestinian recognition ', 12/8). On one side is the almost continuous insistence by the Israelis that they have a right to defend themselves (as they do) against the terrorist organisation Hamas. The Israelis also have a right to request, or try to retrieve, the hostages taken in the attack on October 7. On the other side are the rights of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, the collateral in this conflict. Had the Israelis stuck to a more surgical operation to dislodge Hamas from Gaza and retrieve the hostages without the need to reduce the Strip to rubble or starve the population, then collective countries might have stuck with them in this aim. However, the ongoing devastation has caused various countries, including Australia, to start the path to recognise a Palestinian State under the prospective leadership of the Palestinian Authority – it is important to note that numerous world leaders have said a precondition is that Hamas is excluded from staying in power. In staring down the criticism from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Trump administration, Albanese has joined a group of countries that have taken a more moral and practical path. Words, however, are not actions. And Australia must now apply more pressure on the Israeli government to come to the table and work towards achieving lasting peace. Jeremy de Korte, Newington Hitched to the wrong leader It's interesting that Sussan Ley believes that Australia is out of step with the US, our major ally, when it comes to recommending the recognition of Palestine statehood. The Dutton Coalition lost the last election in part because it hitched its wagon to Trump. Yet Ley continues to fail to read the room by offering a policy out of step with the rest of the world. Kurt Elder, Port Melbourne Fluid borders Michaelia Cash states that because Palestine does not have defined borders it cannot be recognised. You could argue that Israel's borders are ill-defined because they keep taking more and more land from Palestine. The same could be said of other countries such as Russia or Ukraine. Trump wants his borders to grow as well – Greenland anyone? Are we meant to block them all? Alan Inchley, Frankston A way to peace Palestine Action Group organiser Amal Naser is critical of the Australian government for offering us 'recognition ... as though that is what we have been demanding' (' Recognising Palestine is a distraction ... ' 12/8). Instead of a Palestinian state, she advocates punishing Israel. This points to the problem underlying the conflict. Since 1948, the Palestinian leadership has repeatedly put the destruction of Israel ahead of the wellbeing of its people. Since 1948, they have launched multiple attacks on Israel and rejected a number of proposals for a Palestinian state, most notably in 2000 when Israel PM Ehud Barak offered Yasser Arafat more than ever, including control of East Jerusalem and a corridor connecting the West Bank and Gaza. The suffering in Gaza would have ended years ago, if numerous Israeli peace and statehood offerings had been accepted. Former Israeli PM Golda Meir was right in the 1970s when she said 'peace will come when the Arabs love their children more than they hate us'. Henry Kalus, Southbank Path to peace Congratulations to the Labor government on its decision to recognise the state of Palestine; however, it should have been recognised at the same time as Israel. Now, Israel must withdraw from Palestinian and Syrian territory and then the Arab nations need to acknowledge the state of Israel. Only then will peace occur in the Middle East. Geoff McDonald, Newtown Further recognition Recognition of statehood for Palestine in the absence of a viable and representative government? Well, the Gazan people certainly have been suffering recently, but what about the Kurds, the Tibetans and the West Papuans? Is their suffering and denial of nationhood/sovereignty still to remain 'unrecognisable'? Is the key lesson that you really need to make the neighbours suffer a lot before your own national suffering can be recognised with statehood? Compared to Gaza, Taiwan seems to be pretty much a nationality and a country, decently organised and run by a representative government, so if the powers of the world can tolerate a two-state solution in the Middle East, then why can't we have another one in North Asia, with two Chinas or one China and one Taiwan? Garry Dalrymple, Earlwood, NSW
