Australian govt under increasing pressure to recognise Palestine

Australian governments – whether Labor or Liberal – have long supported a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine, but held off recognising Palestine on the basis that a Palestinian state must recognise Israel’s right to exist within secure borders.

There is increasing pressure for that position to change, as much for internal political advantage as for foreign policy considerations.

Internally, Muslim leaders are warning failure to recognise Palestine will cost Labor votes at the next election, the Greens are pushing for recognition, the defection of Senator Fatima Payman has added to the pressure, and a series of state Labor conferences have passed resolutions calling for recognition.

Externally, an increasing number of countries are choosing not to wait for a peaceful or viable Palestine to advance recognition. In April, nine new countries, among them Norway, Spain and Ireland, recognised Palestine bringing the number of countries that now recognise Palestine to 145.

On the other hand, most of Australia’s major allies including the US, UK, Canada and New Zealand do not recognise Palestine, and the fundamental reason Australia will not recognise Palestine – that it will not recognise Israel – has only been strengthened by the Hamas invasion.

This week, leaders of two of Australia’s largest Muslim organisations told the Sydney Morning Herald that as opposition leader, Anthony Albanese had told them that Labor would recognise Palestine as a “first term priority”.

In an online meeting held in the weeks leading up to the May 2022 election, Albanese stopped short of guaranteeing senior leaders from the Australian National Imams Council, the Islamic Council of Victoria and a handful of other organisations that recognition of Palestine would happen in the first term of his government. But a clear undertaking was given by the then-opposition leader, the Herald reported.