Wong on Palestine statehood
In an interview with The Australian in New York, Foreign Minister Penny Wong has acknowledged there is still "work to do" for Palestine to function as a sovereign state.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has acknowledged there is still “work to do” for Palestine to function as a sovereign state, one year after Australia recognised Palestinian statehood.
In an interview with The Australian in New York, Wong was asked whether Palestine was a functioning sovereign state. Saying there was work to do, she pointed to Israeli construction in the West Bank.
“We see Israeli settlements which are on the ground, making the prospect of a viable Palestinian state much less and diminishing that,” she said.
Wong said Australia was working with the United Kingdom, Canada and Indonesia on reform of the Palestinian Authority, and that she had spoken to the Palestinian foreign minister last week. She has not spoken to her Israeli counterpart for a couple of months. “We have taken positions on certain issues that I know the Netanyahu government has disagreed with,” Wong told The Australian.
Asked whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be welcome in Australia, Wong said she did not think he was seeking an invitation.
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