Australia Recognises a Palestinian State
There has been both domestic and international fallout from Australia’s recognition of Palestinian statehood.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced it at a press conference at Parliament House on Monday.
Albanese emphasised, “Recognising Palestine is not about taking sides; it’s about contributing to a process that ends the cycle of violence and builds a foundation for negotiation.”
The change reverses Australia’s longstanding bipartisan position that a Palestinian state should only be recognised as part of a final peace agreement.
It also follows recent announcements by major Western nations to recognise Palestine. Currently, 147 countries recognise Palestine, with Australia joining recent additions UK, France and Canada.
Western recognition of Palestine comes as international pressure mounts on Israel to allow more aid into Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved plans to take control of large parts of Gaza.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong, standing alongside Albanese, said, “We have reached a point where the status quo is unsustainable,” Wong said. “The humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, with over 60,000 lives lost and millions facing famine, demands urgent action from the international community.”
Official Australian recognition follows months of street protests in our major cities, with 90,000 people marching across a rain-soaked Sydney Harbour Bridge, including prominent former Albanese Government Minister Ed Husic and former NSW Labor Premier and Foreign Minister Bob Carr, as well as Julian Assange.
The historic move comes years after Labor first adopted Palestinian recognition in its national platform in 2018, with over 80 branches passing motions urging a recognition of Palestine, and condemning Israel.
The Liberal Opposition has pledged to reverse Australia’s recognition of Palestine. A joint statement by Liberal Leader Sussan Ley and her Shadow Foreign Minister Michaelia Cash said, “Recognising a Palestinian state prior to a return of the hostages and defeat of Hamas, as the Government has today, risks delivering Hamas one of its strategic objectives of the horrific terrorism of October 7.”
Jewish groups in Australia have strongly condemned the decision to recognise a Palestinian state. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry called it a “betrayal and abandonment of the Israeli hostages who continue to languish in appalling conditions in Gaza”.
The Zionist Federation of Australia has said that it “will embolden Hamas, further jeopardise the lives of Israeli hostages, prolong the war and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and place more strain on the longstanding alliance between Australia and Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East”.
Israel’s greatest ally, the United States, has criticised Western countries’ move to recognise Palestine. President Donald Trump has claimed it rewards Hamas.
His Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said that it has led to Hamas withdrawing from ceasefire negotiations with Israel.
Benjamin Netanyahu called Australia’s imminent recognition of Palestine “shameful”. Saying of Australia, “They know what they would do if right next to Melbourne, or right next to Sydney, you had this horrific attack. I think you would do at least what we’re doing. Probably, maybe not as efficiently and as precisely as we’re doing it.”
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz posted on X, urging Australians to “wake up” to the implications, calling it a “betrayal” that empowers extremists.
Pro-Zionist News Corp Australia, on its daily tabloid front pages, echoed the condemnation from Jewish groups with the headline ‘A win for Hamas’.
Seven West’s The Nightly online newspaper had as its headline ‘The Hamas Western Alliance’. Headlines like this are made easier with Hamas itself praising Australia’s decision.
Although Palestinian recognition is a cause Albanese has been associated with since his student activist days, there are also domestic political motivations. Two Albanese Cabinet Ministers, Tony Burke and Jason Clare, were challenged in their Western Sydney seats at this year’s federal election by pro-Palestine Muslim independents.
A recent poll by DemosAU found that 45% of Australians polled supported recognising a Palestinian state, 23% opposed and 32% were not sure.
In his second term, Albanese has asserted a more independent foreign policy unafraid to be at odds with the United States under the Trump Administration.
The full impact of this decision will unfold in the coming months. Will it deter Israel from a full occupation of Gaza? Will it result in Israel permitting more foreign aid into Gaza? Will it pressure Israel into accepting a ceasefire?
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