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Bad blood continues to linger within Labor over the Israel-Palestine conflict following the party’s national conference, with South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas questioning backbencher Ed Husic’s motives in pushing the party to ratchet up criticism of Israel.
Husic, a former cabinet minister, said on Saturday, that he didn’t “give a shit” if Labor heavyweights put him in the freezer after he unsuccessfully tried to convince the party to adopt a resolution recognising genocide and apartheid claims against Israel.
Husic also wanted the party to support withdrawal of Australian trade and defence diplomats from Tel Aviv, but the move was shut down by the party without debate.
“I hope he is making his contributions from a perspective of wanting to do good rather than to seek to garner attention for ulterior motives,” Malinauskas, widely seen as a possible future prime minister, told Sky News on Sunday.
“I’m not necessarily suggesting that’s the case.”
Husic did not respond to a request for comment on Malinauskas’ claims.
The Labor Friends of Israel group, led by former frontbencher Mike Kelly, said in a statement it was “deeply disturbed” that references to Hamas needing to disarm and play no governing role in Gaza had been stripped from earlier drafts of the policy platform by party powerbrokers.
“There was no excuse for not remedying this in the light of the extensive commentary and debate that highlighted deleting the reference could only be interpreted as the movement embracing Hamas,” the group said.
“Hamas is a prescribed terrorist organisation under Australian law and has committed the most heinous acts imaginable, including the cold-blooded slaughter of men women and children, along with systematic and sadistic sexual violence.”
Speaking generally about rising opposition to Israel in progressive politics, the group argued there was “a concerted attempt by hardcore violent revolutionary communists in league with Islamist extremists to subvert the union movement, the branches and the Labor Party”.
“This needs to be cauterised if the party is not to become irrelevant to the needs of the Australian people and suffer political consequences in the face of the rising threat from One Nation,” it said.
Albanese told the ABC’s Insiders on Sunday that “the party platform has got the balance right” on Middle East policy.
“I support the right of Israel to exist within secure borders. I also support the legitimate aspirations of Palestinians for their own state and to live in peace and security with prosperity,” he said.
“Now, we want to see that coming together, and Australia can play a role in promoting harmony rather than conflict.”
Albanese said the fact that Labor MPs Josh Burns, who was Jewish, and Basem Abdo, the son of Palestinian refugees, jointly backed the platform showed the party was overwhelmingly united on the issue.
The final platform approved on Saturday says that “Labor unreservedly condemns terrorism and violent extremism, including as perpetrated by Hamas and other extremists”.
It also states that the party “opposes the annexation of Palestinian territory and wants Israel to bring its illegal settlement activity and the occupation to an end, to see security for Palestine, for Israel and for the region”.
The Labor Friends of Palestine group declined to comment on the outcome of the national conference.
Australia Palestine Advocacy Network President Nasser Mashni said the Labor conference had failed to live up to its promise by failing to even debate Husic’s resolution.
“Rather than allowing a place for everyone to participate, backroom dealings produced a compromised outcome,” he said.
“By evading debate, Labor risks losing the trust of its own base and ceding more ground to One Nation and others.
“Managing dissent, rather than engaging with it, is not leadership.”
APAN had called on Labor to go further by supporting the end of military co-operation with Israel and forcing the Future Fund to divest from companies operating in Israel.
Daniel Aghion, president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said: “The government has made Hamas playing no part in any Palestinian governing authority and being neutralised militarily a condition of its support for Palestinian statehood, and we expect it to stick to that position regardless of the wording of the party platform.
“We are concerned to ensure that the conference resolution will not signal a change in government policy in the future.”
Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council executive director Colin Rubenstein said the group was relieved Husic’s “highly extreme and incendiary proposal” was rejected but was “deeply disappointed” by the removal of an explicit call for Hamas to disarm and reform of the Palestinian Authority.
The Palestinian Authority’s delegation in Canberra welcomed the platform, saying: “We particularly appreciate Australia’s recognition of the State of Palestine and the platform’s support for Palestinian self-determination, opposition to illegal settlements and annexation, commitment to international humanitarian law, and support for the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court.”
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Matthew Knott is the foreign affairs and national security correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X, Facebook or email.From our partners
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