00:00It's taken a bit of time for really both sides of politics to digest exactly what Mr Trump
00:07is proposing here.
00:08And it's been made more challenging because, as we've heard, what's being proposed has
00:11been shifting rather rapidly over the past 24 hours or so, as White House officials walk
00:17back elements of what Mr Trump said at that press conference yesterday.
00:22But the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has been asked a few times for his thoughts on
00:26the proposal from Donald Trump.
00:28And he's avoided directly endorsing the idea of a US takeover of Gaza.
00:34But he's been keen to praise Donald Trump's broader approach to the Middle East, saying
00:39he is keen to see peace in the region and he should be taken seriously as both a dealmaker
00:45and a big thinker, in Mr Dutton's words.
00:49He says he's confident that whatever eventuates with the United States in the Middle East
00:54will see the US accord with international law.
00:57And he's also restated that the coalition does maintain its support for a two-state
01:02solution in the Middle East.
01:04That is a bipartisan position here in Canberra.
01:07Both the coalition and Labor support a two-state solution, saying there has to be an Israeli
01:12state and a Palestinian state in whatever future shape the Middle East takes.
01:17Here's Mr Dutton speaking on that Trump proposal at a press conference here in Canberra earlier
01:21today.
01:23I don't believe the Americans have any intent to act outside of international law.
01:28I don't think the president, from what I've seen, is talking about forcibly moving people.
01:34Or I would wait to see the detail of what is released as the discussions continue on,
01:42not just with the Israelis, but obviously with the new neighbours, Jordan and Egypt
01:47and others, in relation to what role they can play.
01:51I suspect President Trump rightly has an expectation that not just America, but that other countries
01:56will contribute to the reconstruction so that people can get their lives back.
02:01Lorna, government figures have been, I suppose, a bit more cautious in how they responded
02:06to the Trump proposal, not wanting to wade into the details of what's being put forward.
02:12And that's partly because they argue it is prudent to be cautious in responding to the
02:18statements of the Trump administration going forward.
02:21They've been keen to say they're not going to provide a running commentary on everything
02:25Donald Trump does, and have pointed out a few times now that that's partly because it
02:29can change so rapidly exactly what is being proposed.
02:33Here's the Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, speaking on this in Senate question time earlier today.
02:39We have seen overnight the discussions and clarifications.
02:43I think that this is a demonstration of why the Australian government doesn't immediately
02:48react to everything that is reported.
02:50I would say that the central players in these matters are the countries of the region, who
02:56will be in dialogue with the United States for some time on a range of proposals.
03:00I again say, as the Prime Minister has made clear, there is a bipartisan commitment in
03:06Australia to a two-state solution, a Palestinian state alongside the state of Israel, achieved
03:11in accordance with international law.
03:14OK, Tom, I want to talk about what's happened here today as well in terms of new hate laws
03:20passing Parliament, along with mandatory minimum sentences.
03:24Outline them for us.
03:25Yeah, so these moved through Parliament really quite swiftly today.
03:29They were voted on in the lower house this morning and in the Senate just around lunchtime
03:33as well, passing with support from both Labor and the Coalition, so really quite swiftly.
03:39The hate speech laws go to strengthening laws around urging violence against groups
03:44or members of groups based on their race, their sexual orientation, their nationality
03:49or a range of other factors as well.
03:52Also directly threatening violence is a new offence that's going to be included here too.
03:57But I suppose the more politically interesting side of this is the mandatory minimum sentences
04:04that have been included as part of these new laws as well.
04:07This was a proposal from the Coalition to introduce mandatory minimum sentences for
04:13terror offences and for displaying hate symbols too, something they've been advocating for
04:18for a few months now.
04:19Labor has traditionally been steadfastly opposed to the very idea of mandatory minimum sentences
04:26in really any context that's a part of Labor's national platform.
04:30But they have conceded to this idea from the Coalition, saying it is in this case the right
04:35approach and added it to this hate law bill that went through Parliament today.
04:41So a range of new mandatory minimum sentences for terror offences and for displaying hate
04:46symbols too.
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