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representatives vote 2024-02-26#1
Edited by
mackay staff
on
2024-03-07 18:22:42
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Title
Motions — Middle East: Occupied Palestinian Territories- Motions - Middle East: Occupied Palestinian Territories - Let another vote take place
Description
<p class="speaker">Adam Bandt</p><p>I move:</p>-
- The majority voted against a [motion](https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Hansard/Hansard_Display?bid=chamber/hansardr/27591/&sid=0000) introduced by Melbourne MP [Adam Bandt](https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/people/representatives/melbourne/adam_bandt) (Greens), which means it failed. The motion was to suspend the usual procedural rules - known as standing orders - in order to let another vote take place.
- ### Motion text
- > *That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the member for Melbourne moving the following motion:*
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- > *That the House:*
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- > *(1) notes that since the House of Representatives' resolution of 16 October 2023 concerning Israel and Gaza, which supported the State of Israel's looming invasion of Gaza by stating that the House 'stands with Israel', the following have occurred:*
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- >> *(a) an appalling and increasing toll of deaths and injuries caused by the State of Israel's bombing and invasion of Gaza;*
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- >> *(b) a growing humanitarian catastrophe caused by the State of Israel's blockade, bombing and invasion of Gaza; and*
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- >> *(c) the State of Israel is the subject of recent International Court of Justice orders in South Africa's case regarding the prevention of genocide;*
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- > *(2) does not support the State of Israel's continued invasion of Gaza, and calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire; and*
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- > *(3) calls on the Government to end its support for the State of Israel's invasion of Gaza. *
<p class="italic">That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the member for Melbourne moving the following motion:</p><p class="italic">That the House:</p><p class="italic">(1) notes that since the House of Representatives' resolution of 16 October 2023 concerning Israel and Gaza, which supported the State of Israel's looming invasion of Gaza by stating that the House 'stands with Israel', the following have occurred:</p><p class="italic">(a) an appalling and increasing toll of deaths and injuries caused by the State of Israel's bombing and invasion of Gaza;</p><p class="italic">(b) a growing humanitarian catastrophe caused by the State of Israel's blockade, bombing and invasion of Gaza; and</p><p class="italic">(c) the State of Israel is the subject of recent International Court of Justice orders in South Africa's case regarding the prevention of genocide;</p><p class="italic">(2) does not support the State of Israel's continued invasion of Gaza, and calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire; and</p><p class="italic">(3) calls on the Government to end its support for the State of Israel's invasion of Gaza.</p><p>It is absolutely imperative that we debate today why this Labor government continues to back the State of Israel's invasion of Gaza. I want to talk about Mahmoud Fattouh, who was two months old when, in the last few days, he died of starvation in northern Gaza. The paramedics have said his mother came screaming for help, seeking medical assistance, as he appeared to take his last breath. He was on the verge of starvation. He had not had baby milk. Why had he not had baby milk? Because there is no baby milk in northern Gaza. Why? UNRWA, the aid agency, has not been able to make a delivery of food to northern Gaza since 23 January, over a month ago. The Australian government—the Labor government—has suspended UNRWA funding, making UNRWA's job even harder. In northern Gaza, like the rest of the country, deliveries of food and humanitarian assistance are being blockaded while this area is being bombed.</p><p>Over two million people live in Gaza—forty per cent of them are under the age of 15—and there is nowhere for them to go. It is effectively a walled-in primary school. What has happened? They have been starved. They have been dehydrated. Fuel and power have been cut off. They have been bombed and invaded, and they've been herded to the south, where an imminent assault awaits them. There are now predictions of famine and widespread disease breaking out across this region. Children are eating animal food. The hospital system is no longer functioning in large parts of Gaza. In the north of Gaza, the ambulance system has broken down, according to reports.</p><p>In the face of this unfolding humanitarian catastrophe, which has already seen about 30,000 people die, including Mahmoud Fattouh, what do we get from the government? We get the continued backing of the invasion and a cutting off of UNRWA's funding. As a result, this extreme war cabinet of the Israeli government, which is now subject to orders by the International Court of Justice to stop genocide, feel emboldened knowing that there's nothing they won't do before governments will step in and act. They feel they've got carte blanche. As a result, children are dying. People are dying in their thousands. We are on the verge of the humanitarian catastrophe that comes from people dying not only when bombs hit their homes and their hospitals get destroyed but also from all the diseases and starvation that come when civil society breaks down.</p><p>What is happening in response? The Prime Minister of Israel has said the looming invasion of Rafah will happen. It's not listening to the plaintive calls and weasel words coming from some world leaders that say they care about it but then do nothing to back it up and refuse to call for a permanent and immediate ceasefire. They know there will be no repercussions, and thousands more will continue to die. There is much more that the government should be doing. It is time, when you have a war cabinet that is now subject to orders to stop genocide, that the government impose sanctions on the members of that war cabinet. I note how quickly the government has moved to impose sanctions with respect to terrible events in and associated with Russia. And yet, there is still full backing for the invasion of Gaza. It is also the time to stop sending weapons. Stop military exports to a government that is subject to orders to stop genocide. That is the time, if there is any, to stop that. It is also the time, Labor, to restore UNRWA funding. We are seeing children dying and people running out of food and water, and UNRWA need the money to get back in there and give them the very basics of life.</p><p>But the bare minimum that should be able to be agreed on by everyone across this parliament is that the invasion must stop. This catastrophic loss of life must stop, and there must be an immediate and permanent ceasefire. I say to others in this parliament: whatever your position was back on 16 October when there was a vote to support the invasion—which we opposed, because you could see the looming humanitarian catastrophe that came from it—30,000 people have died. Children are dying. Mothers are giving birth and, in many instances, being subject to surgical procedures without anaesthetic, according to reports. There is looming starvation. Civil society in Gaza is breaking down. It will be children and civilians who suffer. That is part of the reason the International Court of Justice took the extraordinary step of putting orders on the Israeli government. The Israeli government fronted up and said that there is absolutely no case to answer with respect to genocide, and the International Court of Justice said, 'We disagree, and we are going to impose orders on you.' That has happened since this parliament and Labor sanctioned the invasion. That has happened. 30,000 people have been killed. Civil society is breaking down. The health system is breaking down.</p><p>So maybe—and I say it to other members of parliament—you have a different view about the question of genocide and what the International Court of Justice says. Maybe you have a different view about sanctions and the actions that should be taken against one of the most extreme far-right governments we have seen for some time in this Netanyahu government and its war cabinet. Maybe you disagree with all of that. What this motion is about is something very simple: do you think that right now the invasion should stop and stop permanently? There's not a weasel word. It's not a humanitarian pause so that children can be fed and then killed.</p> <p class="speaker">Opposition Members</p><p>Opposition members interjecting—</p> <p class="speaker">Ross Vasta</p><p>Order. The member for Melbourne has the call.</p> <p class="speaker">Adam Bandt</p><p>Not a pause so that food can get in and then they can be bombed. But do you agree, right now, that the invasion should stop and should stop permanently? That is what this motion is about, and I urge everyone to understand that what we say and do here matters. This is our chance to join that growing international chorus that says, 'Enough is enough,' and we need an immediate and permanent ceasefire.</p> <p class="speaker">Ross Vasta</p><p>Is there a seconder to the motion?</p> <p class="speaker">Max Chandler-Mather</p><p>I second the motion. The current Australian Labor government could actually be in breach of its own obligations under the genocide convention for failing to take actions to prevent a genocide in Gaza. In fact, international lawyer Francis Boyle, when talking about Australia and the other countries that have stopped funding UNRWA—the main aid organisation in Gaza—while there is an engineered famine, said:</p><p class="italic">These States are now also directly violating Genocide Convention article 2(c) by themselves: 'Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part...'</p><p>To be crystal clear, this means Australia, and the Labor government, could find itself before the International Court of Justice—just as Israel is right now—for its role in the genocide in Gaza.</p><p>As the State of Israel's mass slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza continues, with F-35 jets screeching over the heads of innocent men, women and children who far too often take their last breath as bombs rain down, and as the 1.5 million Palestinians in Rafah—the tiny area of Gaza where Israel has pushed most Palestinians—prepare for the next stage of Israel's genocide, the Australian public should know. They should know that these jets, dropping those bombs, can only function because of parts manufactured and exported from Australia with the consent of this Australian Labor government.</p><p>In fact, not only is Labor allowing the export of weapons to Israel; it has granted two more weapon export permits since 7 October. The latest DFAT data shows $125,000 in arms and ammunition exported to Israel in October. As Israel deliberately engineers a famine in Gaza that experts say will kill more Palestinians than the already 30,000 murdered by Israeli bombs and weapons that can only function in part as a result of Australian weapon exports, the Australian government has joined in by stopping $6 million of aid funding to UNRWA, the UN aid organisation for Palestine.</p><p>The head of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, has said UNRWA has:</p><p class="italic">… reached breaking point, with Israel's repeated calls to dismantle UNRWA and the freezing of funding by donors at a time of unprecedented humanitarian needs in Gaza.</p><p>UNRWA now reports it has been forced to pause aid and deliveries to northern Gaza, where it is currently not possible to conduct proper humanitarian operations. Palestinians are slowly being starved to death, and this Australian government is participating in that by pausing aid funding for UNRWA.</p><p>Let's think about this in the human consequences. A two-month-old Palestinian boy, Mahmoud Fattouh, has died from starvation in northern Gaza. Here's what the paramedics said:</p><p class="italic">We saw a woman carrying her baby, screaming for help. Her pale baby seemed to be taking his last breath.</p><p class="italic">We rushed him to hospital and he was found to be suffering acute malnutrition. Medical staff rushed him into the ICU. The baby has not been fed any milk for days, as baby milk is totally absent in Gaza.</p><p>Can anyone here possibly imagine the unique horror and pain for a mum to watch their small baby slowly take their last breath as they die as a result of not having enough food to breathe?</p><p>What about the six-year-old Palestinian girl, Hind Rajab? To quote from the SBS:</p><p class="italic">Relatives found the body on Saturday of a 6-year-old Palestinian girl who had begged Gaza rescuers to send help after being trapped by Israeli military fire, along with the bodies of five of her family members and two ambulance workers who had gone to save her.</p><p class="italic">…   …   …</p><p class="italic">The audio clips released by the Red Crescent earlier this month recorded a call to dispatchers that was first made by Hind's teenage cousin … saying an Israeli tank was approaching before shots rang out and she screamed.</p><p class="italic">Believed to be the only survivor, Hind stayed on the line for three hours with dispatchers, who tried to soothe her as they prepared to send an ambulance.</p><p>Let parliament remember her words. This is what that 6-year-old girl said:</p><p class="italic">'Come and get me,' Hind was heard crying desperately in another audio recording. 'I'm so scared, please come.'</p><p>She was trapped in a car surrounded by her five dead family members for 12 hours after rescuers tried to send an ambulance to reach her, but it was destroyed by the IDF. These two little children's stories are just some of those of the 10,000 children who have been murdered by the Israeli genocidal actions in Gaza. This Labor government is allowing weapons to be sent to Israel. This Labor government is stopping crucial aid funding from reaching little kids like these.</p><p>For those watching on their phones or computers at home, it is easy to feel overwhelmed, but it is our duty to the millions of Palestinians to keep fighting. For every member of this parliament, remember that the genocide convention asks us to take actions to prevent genocide. And in a few years time ask yourselves: did you do enough? If the answer is no, let that rest on your conscience.</p> <p class='motion-notice motion-notice-truncated'>Long debate text truncated.</p>-
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