No change to Labor platform on Palestine recognition
The AJN understands an internal agreement was reached ahead of the item being discussed to preserve the status quo
There was no change to Labor’s platform to move towards recognising a Palestinian state at the party’s federal conference on Friday.
The AJN understands an internal agreement was reached ahead of the item being discussed to preserve the status quo.
Two speakers addressed the conference, with a Labor source telling The AJN the differing perspectives were “rationally debated”, before all amendments were withdrawn.
“This is an important outcome that was achieved through hard work and the efforts of many friends of the Jewish Community inside the ALP,” Member for Macnamara Josh Burns said. “The Australian Labor Party has a long history of support for Israel. There are many hard working activists inside the party dedicated to ensuring the strength of the relationship between Australia and Israel.”
He added, “I thank the community leadership for their constructive engagement with myself and the Government.”
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) said in a statement that it was pleased there was no change.
“This is the first National Conference since 2015, where there has not been a further move towards unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state,” the ECAJ said. “We warmly welcome the excellent speech delivered by Michael Easson, a highly principled and deeply informed Labor activist. As Mr Easson observed, ‘there can be no justice without truth’.
“The truth that this government must accept is that recognition of a state that does not exist is not the expression of solidarity or of a desire for peace. It is a dangerous falsehood which rewards the Palestinians for their refusal to negotiate an end to the conflict, recognise a Jewish state or renounce violence and terrorism.”
Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leader said, “We are pleased the ALP’s national conference has resulted in no further change to Labor’s position on recognition of Palestine.
“Foreign Minister Penny Wong has said on numerous occasions that a decision as to whether Australia should recognise Palestine is up to government, and not a party conference. We also note Senator Wong’s repeated comments that the government should not take unilateral positions on final status issues, and we expect the government to remain consistent in this regard.
“We believe that the Labor leadership realises that premature recognition of a non-existent Palestinian state would damage Australia’s foreign policy credibility and the already strained Israeli-Palestinian peace process.”
Labor Israel Action Committee (LIAC) patron Marjorie O’Neill said about the result, “I want to thank the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong for preventing any change to Labor’s position on Israel and Palestine which was supported unanimously.
“All speakers in the debate reaffirmed the parties support for a two state solution with secure and recognised borders. I am grateful for the groundswell of support from the trade union movement, in particular the SDA and AWU and rank and file delegates.”
Last week, Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced that the government would now use the term “Occupied Palestinian Territories” to describe all territories conquered by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War and label all settlements in the West Bank as “illegal”. The change in language was seen by many as way to deal with the Israeli-Palestinian issue before the conference.
In 2021, a motion “that calls on the next Labor government to recognise Palestine as a state and expects that this issue will be an important priority for the next Labor government” was elevated to Labor’s party platform. Senator Wong said at the time that in government Labor would not be bound by it.
A motion calling on the federal government “to recognise the Palestinian state within the term of this Parliament” passed at Labor’s Victorian state conference in June.
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