Wong: Recognition stands, conditions or not
Officials conceded they could not assess two of the five conditions, and were unable to say whether DFAT ever judged the PA likely to deliver on any of them
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has confirmed the government will not revoke its recognition of Palestinian statehood regardless of whether the Palestinian Authority meets the commitments that underpinned it.
Australia announced its intention to recognise a Palestinian state in August last year and formally recognised it at the UN General Assembly the following month. The recognition took into account Palestinian Authority (PA) commitments to reform governance, terminate prisoner payments, institute schooling reforms, demilitarise, and hold general elections.
At Senate estimates on Wednesday, shadow defence minister James Paterson asked whether there were any circumstances in which recognition would be revoked.
“No, we have recognised the state of Palestine,” Wong said.
“It’s not a precondition, then, is it?” Paterson replied.
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) deputy secretary Ralph King clarified that what remains contingent is not recognition itself but further steps, including establishing diplomatic relations and opening embassies.
Wong defended the policy as a contribution to keeping a two-state solution alive, arguing the alternative was inaction while settlement building rendered it impossible.
“Your position is: we sit back and say, oh, they’re not good enough, and we’re not going to do anything about it, and whilst we allow the only prospect of peace in the Middle East to be rendered impossible,” she said. “There is no Palestine left to recognise if we just wait.”
Asked what assessment DFAT made at the time of the likelihood the commitments would be fulfilled, King said he was unaware of one.
“I am unaware of the assessment made with specific regard for reforms, except for the fact that we have remained in touch with the Palestinian Authority to hold them to account, and we are satisfied they are making progress on that basis,” he said, undertaking to come back to the committee.
On governance, the first of the five conditions, King could not provide an assessment at all. “I’ll come back to you on that one,” he said. DFAT acting deputy secretary Fiona Webster instead outlined Australian support, including $5 million between 2024 and 2027 through a UNDP transparency and accountability program.
“I am not asking about what Australia has done to assist the Palestinian Authority,” Paterson said. “I am asking what progress has the Palestinian Authority made.”
On demilitarisation, King said it was a work in progress and that he would need to return with detail, noting the challenge posed by “the Hamas factor”.
On prisoner payments, the department was more definite. A July 2026 report by US firm Alvarez and Marsal assessed the replacement of the pay-for-slay system as substantially delivered, Webster said. Mahmoud Abbas had enacted new laws applying the same eligibility standards to all families in need, revoked the previous regulations, and in November 2025 dismissed finance minister Omar Bitar after an investigation found he had authorised payments outside the new system. An audit of beneficiary databases was completed in January.
Asked whether payments were still being made to people convicted of terrorism, Webster said: “That is our understanding” that they were not. Pressed on what “substantially delivered” left outstanding, she said she could not go into detail.
Wong noted Australia has no personnel on the ground, having been removed from Ramallah by the Israeli government, and relies on the work of others.
On education, King said the PA was working with the European Union and UNESCO on a new curriculum, and that instances of offensive material were now “very minor” and not currently prevalent.
On elections, King said the government had expressed deep disappointment at the postponement. Abbas, 21 years into a four-year term, pushed the vote to September 2027 last month.
The exchange followed comments to The AJN earlier in the week from Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs (AIJAC) executive director Colin Rubenstein, who said the damage from what he called Australia’s premature recognition could not be brushed aside, and called for the PA to be held accountable for commitments including ending payments to terrorist prisoners and holding early elections.
A figure from the wrong period
In a separate exchange, King admitted an error in Wong’s September address to the United Nations, in which she said that “in the first six months of this year alone, settler violence has driven more than 15,000 children from their homes” in the West Bank.
The figure came from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), King said, but covered 18 months, from January 2025 to July 2026, and attributed the displacement to settler violence, security operations and a range of punitive measures rather than settler violence alone.
“That’s something for which I accept responsibility,” he said, offering to table the document. The error was identified after the speech was delivered.
The speech remains unamended on the DFAT website. Wong said transcripts record remarks as delivered, noting criticism of other ministers over doctoring transcripts, and that the department corrected the timeframe when asked by a journalist.
Paterson said a background clarification was not a public correction, particularly as Israel’s foreign ministry had publicly asked for one. Wong said the matter had not been raised with her directly.
“We are talking about the context of 15,000 children being displaced over a very short period of time,” she said. “I’m sure you would agree it’s not acceptable.”
Paterson agreed the number was unacceptable whatever the period, but said accuracy mattered when a foreign minister spoke at the United Nations.