00:00Well, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, more generally, has been a central point of political
00:07discussion throughout this parliamentary sitting fortnight.
00:11And this morning we know that Labor backbencher Ed Husic raised the issue with his colleagues
00:17and he pressed the Prime Minister to answer when exactly Australia will move to formally
00:23recognise Palestinian statehood.
00:26As we know, at the end of last week, French President Emmanuel Macron indicated that France
00:31will take that very step at the United Nations General Assembly in September.
00:36And in response, the PM said that Australia doesn't have any plans to do that, at least
00:42in the short term.
00:43However, we do know that his stance on Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip is hardening.
00:50In response to that question from Mr Husic, Anthony Albanese essentially described Israel's
00:57claims that there's no famine or starvation in Gaza as beyond comprehension.
01:04So, directly refuting those claims from the Netanyahu government.
01:08He also went further when it comes to this question of Palestinian statehood.
01:14And he essentially quoted Nelson Mandela saying, it always seems impossible until it's done.
01:21There are still some hurdles that the Australian government would like to see overcome in order
01:26to meet that statehood question.
01:28So, for example, ensuring the democratisation of Palestine and also seeing, I guess, the demilitarisation
01:38of Hamas more generally.
01:40However, we are seeing sort of steps towards this.
01:44And ultimately, the government's position is a two-state solution, but ultimately the Labor
01:50grassroots are certainly pushing for Palestinian recognition pretty forcefully at that grassroots
01:57level.
01:57The PM also got a question in question time today from the Greens asking whether Anthony Albanese
02:05would seek to place sanctions on Israel, similar to what Australia has done, say, with Russia
02:11power over its invasion of Ukraine.
02:14The PM says that that's not his intention at this stage, and he also asked the Greens not
02:20to stoke tensions here at home.
02:24We don't take these issues lightly.
02:28And what we don't do also is try to secure some domestic political advantage and damage social
02:38cohesion in this country through some of the actions which, frankly, some of the Greens political
02:45party actions have done.
02:48What we do is act in a principle way and in a way that is consistent.
02:53We condemn Hamas for their actions.
02:57And we condemn what is occurring in Gaza in breach of international law.
03:04That is the way that responsible adult governments act.
03:08That's the way that middle powers can have influence.
03:12And Olivia, what did the opposition leader Susan Lee have to say on the Israel-Gaza situation
03:17today?
03:18Well, I think what's notable more generally is we are seeing a hardening criticism of the
03:24Israeli government on the world stage more generally.
03:27So, for example, we saw coalition frontbencher James Patterson today indicating that he'd like
03:35to see Israel assisting more aid getting into Gaza for civilians.
03:41And he did say as well that the current situation is damaging Israel's reputation and its international
03:48standing.
03:49US President Donald Trump as well, a usual ally of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli president,
03:55also disputed Israel's reports that there isn't a starvation or famine on the ground.
04:01So a notable shift there as well.
04:03Interestingly, the opposition leader, Susan Lee, she was less forceful in her remarks.
04:09She was far more cautious, saying that while she's incredibly distressed by the images of
04:15malnourished children coming out of Gaza, she stopped short of saying whether she believed
04:20that a famine was taking place.
04:22I have been distressed, and I don't mind saying that over and over again, but I still make
04:28the same points that I have before.
04:29It's very complex on the ground.
04:32It's not something that we can make judgments about every move that is made.
04:36There are reports of Hamas interrupting the flow of aid and carrying on its atrocious activities
04:42at this time.
04:44Now, if we want the war to end, and we all do, we know the simplest, quickest way is for
04:50Hamas to surrender and release the hostages.
04:53So it's clear that there are some differing opinions within the coalition on this question of what's
05:01happening in Gaza.
05:02We've also seen some reports in the New York Times over the past couple of hours suggesting
05:07that the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, is more actively considering this question
05:13of Palestinian statehood.
05:15The Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, yesterday during question time revealed that he's been
05:20in conversation with some world leaders when it comes to Palestinian statehood.
05:26We don't know exactly who that is, though, or whether Keir Starmer is among those that
05:30he's been speaking with.
05:31We don't know exactly who that is.
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