Spender’s defund UNRWA call
'It was clear that humanitarian aid was urgently needed,' Spender told The AJN last week.
Member for Wentworth Allegra Spender has written to Foreign Minister Penny Wong urging that Australia stop funding the Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA.
It follows the independent MP in March last year co-signing a letter with other “teal” independents asking the government, which at that time had paused funding to the agency amid an investigation that its employees had participated in October 7, to restore it.
“It was clear that humanitarian aid was urgently needed,” Spender told The AJN last week.
“The point that I was trying to make … [is] I have had my reservations about UNRWA from pre-October 7. In the last resort, if there’s no other way to get the aid in, we should look at what are the circumstances under which, you know, we could work with UNRWA.
“I know it’s a difficult choice. I know that some people have been very concerned about it.”
Now that there is a tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, Spender said she has a different view.
“I believe we should move away decisively from UNRWA, and we should look to build the next generation, or the next type of agencies that can actually be supportive in this new phase,” she said.
“I believe in the two-state solution. I know people have different views, and I believe that we need strong, robust support to do that. And I don’t believe UNRWA is part of that.
“They were the absolute last resort, and I think that now we need to build back differently.”
Spender also commented on the spree of antisemitic incidents over the summer, calling it “disgusting and overwhelming”.
“I never thought in my lifetime I would see this sort of thing in the eastern suburbs,” she said.
“I cannot tell you how much I’m appalled by it … when people attack the Jewish community, they attack multicultural Australia. And that’s why I’m so strident about this … this is the entire country’s values that are under attack.”
Asked to rate the government’s performance on the issue, she said, “Look, I think they have made some real mistakes.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese should have attended the community vigil at Dover Heights immediately after October 7, she said.
Spender also expressed disappointment that Labor and the Coalition did not support her amendments to hate laws that passed the Parliament last month, but was pleased her motion condemning antisemitism passed with multi-partisan support.
“Whatever happens, it will be probably one of my proudest moments as an MP.”