This week, for so many people across Australia and the world, has been an extremely challenging one as we learn more about the atrocities playing out in the Middle East. Less than 24 hours before polls open, the Voice to Parliament referendum is nearing its historic conclusion. And a huge announcement came unexpectedly this week with the release of Australian journalist Cheng Lei from detention in China. Ahead of Federal Parliament resuming on Monday, we take a deep dive into the Israel-Gaza conflict and take a look at the final days of the referendum campaign.
What’s making headlines?
- New Zealand’s Labour Government hoping for miracle win at tomorrow’s election.
- Louisiana congressman Steve Scalise drops out of US Speaker race after being endorsed by Republicans.
- Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison calls for re-work of One China policy while in Taiwan.
- Cheng Lei enjoys the ‘spring sunshine’ at home in Melbourne.
Israel-Gaza war
What happened last Saturday?
Just as Israelis were waking around 6am last Saturday, Hamas militants launched a full scale assault from Gaza, as coordinated attacks by land and rockets by air took the nation by surprise.
Hamas breached the southern border of Israel, systematically invading communities and killing hundreds of innocent civilians – including hundreds of young people gathered at a music festival.
More than 5000 rockets hammered Israel, its rocket-defence system known as Iron Dome struggling to cope such was the intensity of the attacks.
As Israeli defence forces were mobilising, militants in southern Israel had a seemingly free rein of terror for hours as they made their way through the communities, killing and seizing hostages – many of them women and children.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war and pledged ‘mighty vengeance’ on Hamas.
How have events unfolded this week?
The relentless attack from Hamas has continued throughout the week, including horrific, verified reports of the slaughter and beheading of scores of babies.
Israel begun retaliatory attacks on Gaza and rocket strikes have reportedly killed more than 1,500 Palestinians and left 300,000 more homeless.
Israel cut off water, food and electricity supplies to Gaza immediately and have today warned more than one million Palestinians in the northernmost parts of Gaza to evacuate immediately to the south. The UN have urged Israel to rescind the order as they prepare for a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip.
The Australian Government is working with Qantas to repatriate citizens caught up in the conflict, with free flights to Australia from Israel operating from Friday local time. It’s thought that as many as 10,000 Australian residents and tourists are in Israel.
Why is the war so politically contentious and what’s the Australian Government position?
A long history of political tensions and territorial disputes has preceded this latest conflict in Israel and Gaza. Here’s a helpful overview of the history if you’re interested to learn more.
Hamas has controlled the Gaza Strip, one of two Palestinian territories (the other, larger one, being the West Bank between Israel and Jordan) since 2007. Israel declared the Hamas takeover as hostile and has maintained a permanent blockade of the Gaza Strip since, home to more than 2 million people.
The Australian Government, like many others in the international community, is committed to a two-state solution – which would see independent states of Israel and Palestine exist peacefully alongside each other. The borders and territory aligned to each state, however, is hugely controversial and both Israel and Palestine have claims to Jerusalem. A resolution to the conflict has apparently never been so far away.
Supporters of the Palestine State say Israel illegally occupies Palestinian territory and decry the Israeli Government over its treatment of Palestinians, particularly in the Gaza Strip.
Australia has a well-established bilateral relationship with Israel, the Middle East’s only functioning democracy, and operates an embassy in Tel Aviv.
The Albanese Government has reinstated the term ‘Occupied Palestinian Territories’ when referring to the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, rejecting the ‘disputed territories’ term adopted by the Coalition while in government. The change was made in the lead up to Labor’s National Conference in August to avoid a heated clash between the Left and Right factions over formal recognition of the State of Palestine.
The Prime Minister and Foreign Minister have this week offered their ‘steadfast and unwavering support’ for Israel in the wake of the terrorist attacks from Hamas.
Events in Australia this week
Tensions flared in Sydney earlier this week, when pro-Palestine protestors hosted a rally at the Opera House while it was lit up in Israel’s national colours – burning the Israeli flag and chanting anti-Semitic messages.
The NSW Police were criticised for their response to the issue, telling the state’s Jewish community to stay home while allowing the pro-Palestinian rally to proceed. A Sydney man was also charged during the week for making death threats against Jewish teenagers.
Another pro-Palestine protest is planned in Sydney this weekend, and police have allocated increased resources to monitoring Jewish schools, hospitals, aged care facilities and synagogues in the state.
The Federal Opposition said this week the Prime Minister’s response to the crisis was slow, and attacked him for failing to call a National Security Committee meeting to discuss the implications for Australia and coordinate the government response. Several senior Labor frontbenchers were criticised for failing to immediately condemn the anti-Semitic actions of pro-Palestine protestors in their electorates.
Voice referendum
The Yes campaign is hoping for a come-from-behind victory tomorrow when the nation casts its final vote on the Voice to Parliament referendum.
Polls show support continues to slide for a Yes vote, and seat-by-seat polling released this week showed just 22 of the 151 electorates are expected to return a positive result. It revealed inner-city electorates, including Greens-held electorates in Melbourne and Canberra, and Labor strongholds in Canberra and Sydney as seats with the highest percentage of Yes voters.
Regional seats, and seats with some of the highest proportion of Indigenous Australians, reported strong No polling, including seats of senior government ministers Jim Chalmers and Richard Marles.
We will learn from tomorrow evening how accurate the polls have been leading into the nation’s first referendum in two decades.
Inner Circle Advisory partner Karly Abbott spoke with the ABC’s Greg Jennett yesterday about what the priorities should be for Labor and the Coalition should the referendum fail on the weekend, including focusing on an Indigenous policy reset.
You can catch the whole interview on ABC iview here (Thursday 12 October).
Parliament resumes in Canberra on Monday, where the fallout from the referendum result will be canvassed in detail. We’ll bring you all of those important updates next Friday.
We enjoy keeping you up-to-date with the important issues and encourage you to please reach out if there is any particular topic you’d like us to cover.