Differences on Israel
Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles did share concerns over antisemitism in Australia, however.
Stark differences in policies relating to Israel were highlighted in speeches from representatives of both main parties at the Zionist Federation of Australia’s biennial conference on Sunday.
Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles did share concerns over antisemitism in Australia, however.
Birmingham attacked the Albanese government’s stance on Israel, saying the Jewish community had been let down and even betrayed by Labor’s policy shifts since taking office.
“The current government changed Australia’s votes at the Human Rights Council, where we had previously stood clearly with the US and other partners about the disproportionate focus applied to Israel,” Birmingham said.
He pledged that a future Coalition government would take stronger action against antisemitism, including requiring universities to adopt the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism and listing Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organisation.
“If a Liberal National government is elected, we will ensure when it comes to recognition [of a Palestinian state] we will be holding … to the necessary preconditions – recognising Israel’s right to exist and … ensuring Israel’s security and ability to live in peace,” Birmingham added.
Marles defended the government’s approach, while acknowledging the past year had been “really difficult”.
“We have very much from the outset, made clear and sought to call out the outrage of October 7, where that outrage came from, that was Hamas, which is a terrorist organisation,” Marles said. “We sought to make clear that in response to that, Israel has a right to defend itself.”
However, Marles said there were “limits to the right to self-defence, because there are limits to everything”, noting the deaths of “tens of thousands of innocents in Gaza”.
The Deputy PM expressed deep concern about rising antisemitism in Australia, describing recent incidents as unimaginable.
“I find it hard to imagine what it is to live as you at this moment,” Marles told the audience. “This country is as much yours as it is mine or anyone else’s. You have a right to live here free of prejudice.”
Marles rejected the perception that the government was prioritising politics over principle. “I genuinely don’t believe that … it’s got to be above politics. We’ve got to try and navigate this against a backdrop of what’s right.”
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