The Coalition has deepened caution calls regarding Australian recognition of Palestine, urging that such a decision should not be rushed or seen to be rewarding Hamas.
Calls for the Albanese government to recognise Palestine intensified last week after the United Kingdom and Canada both announced conditional recognition plans, following a similar move from France the week prior. Labor has said Australian recognition of Palestine is a matter of “when, not if”, though hasn’t committed to a timeline for such recognition to occur.
Nationals Leader David Littleproud.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
Speaking on ABC News Breakfast, Nationals Leader David Littleproud urged Albanese not to award recognition “when we have Hamas still controlling Palestine”.
“There is, I think, a desire from everybody to see this conflict finish. We want to see that there is peace in the Middle East, particularly for the Palestinians, and the Palestinian people,” Littleproud said.
“And while there’s a lot of sentiment and symbolism going around at the moment, you’ve got to make sure you live and work in the practical reality of the world.”
Coalition employment and industrial relations spokesman Tim Wilson was concerned that near-term recognition of Palestine could be viewed as “rewarding terrorism”.
Liberal MP Tim Wilson.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
“We know full well that Hamas has a long [history] of using Palestinian and Israeli civilians as cannon fodder in their propaganda war, and if we then go on and simply reward that sort of behaviour, it then raises serious questions about what they’ll do thereafter,” Wilson told Nine’s Today earlier on Tuesday.
“So we need to be very clear. We need to be very cautious about what type of behaviour we’re rewarding as a country, because it will be civilians that pay the price overnight.”
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