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Australia’s UN ambassador insists Israel ‘must cease settlement activity’ despite abstaining from vote
Daniel Hurst
Australia’s UN ambassador, James Larsen, told the UN general assembly that “the occupation must be brought to an end, such that we see security for Palestinians, for Israel, and for the region”.
Following the abstain vote, he said Australia “supports many of the principles of this resolution” and was “already doing much of what it calls for”.
He said Australia had adopted the name ‘Occupied Palestinian Territories’ in August 2023 “because that it what they are” and had “affirmed that Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal”.
Larsen said Australia insisted that Israel “must cease settlement activity”. He said Australia had also “sanctioned extremist Israeli settlers because they must be held to account for their violence”.
He said Australia would “continue to call out unilateral actions that undermine the prospect for peace”.
Reiterating a shift first foreshadowed in May, Larsen said Australia had “moved” its position on recognising Palestinian statehood:
We now see recognition as an integral part of a peace process, and as a way to contribute meaningfully towards the realisation of a two-state solution.
It’s a matter of when, not if.
It’s the only way to break the cycle of violence – the only hope for a prosperous future for both peoples. A Palestinian state and the State of Israel, side by side, behind secure borders.
Larsen ended by saying the situation in Gaza was “catastrophic” and “international law is under strain” with “the region is on the brink of escalation”. He called for an immediate ceasefire.
Key events
Sarah Hanson-Young says she will be introducing new legislation into the senate to ban all gambling ads and that the prime minister was “wrong” to say advertisements weren’t the problem:
The prime minister said advertising wasn’t the problem. Well, he’s wrong. He’s dead wrong, and it is extremely disappointing to see him backtracking.
The Prime Minister today has revealed that he had gone weak because of the lobbying from the bookies. A weak Prime Minister who cannot stand up to the pressures of the gambling lobby is not a prime minister that you can trust.
He needs to have the guts to do what’s right.
He needs to have the guts to stare down the bookies, to look after families and deliver the reform that everyone knows is needed. The prime minister said, ‘Oh, banning gambling ads is the easy thing to do’. Well, get on with it. Get on with it.
Peter Dutton is also holding a press conference today – he is also in Brisbane.
Anthony Albanese is on his way to Cairns before heading to the US for the Quad meeting.
Penny Wong was also asked about Australians who don’t think the Albanese government has gone far enough to pressure Israel to withdraw from Gaza.
Wong said:
I understand why so many Australians are concerned by the conflict in Gaza. 10,000 children have been killed. I am deeply concerned about the conflict in Gaza. And we will continue to do everything we are able to do to seek peace, and you’ve seen that.
You’ve seen us vote for ceasefire, you’ve seen us work with Canada and New Zealand at leader level statements to call on Israel, and other parties, including the terrorist organisation, Hamas, to agree to a ceasefire. You’ve seen us vote in a vote that was highly criticised by some for greater recognition of the Palestinian delegation at the United Nations.
You’ve seen us put sanctions on settlers. We don’t export weapons to Israel, and we will continue to look at ways we can add our voice to a pathway out of this conflict, because we also want peace in the Middle East, and we regret that we were not in a position to support this resolution, alongside the United Kingdom.
Penny Wong expanded on her comments in a quick doorstop outside the ABC studios this morning:
Q: Should Israel take responsibility if it is indeed behind these attacks, or should it rule it out if it’s not?
Wong:
Well, I don’t speak for the Government of Israel, that’s a matter for them. What I would say is we know that Israel lives in a unique security environment, and we also know that we see a cycle of violence in the Middle East. We would like to see peace and the peoples of region would like to see peace.
Q: Do you think Israel is responsible?
Wong:
I don’t speak for the Government of Israel.
On Israel’s anger about the UN resolution (which is not binding, but is influential) because it ‘rewards’ Hamas, Penny Wong said:
Look, our position is that, first, the October 7 attacks were an atrocity. What we also have said is that we want to see a ceasefire. 10,000 Palestinian children have been killed in this conflict.
Q: But by abstaining are we also tacitly condoning settler violence and a lack of willingness on Israel’s behalf to compromise?
Wong:
No, I don’t agree with that. And you see that in both what we say and what we do. I mean the fact that we have sanctioned settlers, and we have made clear we would deny extremist settlers a visa is a demonstration of our consistency around this, and you know, if there had been some, I think changes to the resolution, you would have seen even more countries’ support, and you saw a number of countries who were prepared to vote in the recognition vote and the ceasefire vote who didn’t support this resolution.
You know, so be it.
Countries have to make their, you know, the Palestinian delegation has to make its decisions. We would have liked to have been in a position to vote for a resolution that more directly reflected the ICJ advisory opinion, and we support many of the principles in the resolution, and we are acting on a number of the matters which are referenced.
On the UN vote, Penny Wong said:
Frankly, we were in a position where we were wanting to be able to vote for a resolution which did reflect closely the ICJ opinion, which gave impetus to a pathway to peace, and we worked very hard in New York with others, including the Palestinian delegation, to seek amendments that would enable us to support it, as we did the recognition vote, and the ceasefire vote, where text enabled Australia to support it, and we were disappointed that the amendments that we and many others sought were not accepted. For that reason we abstained.
I would say there are many things that the resolution calls for we are already doing. We do not supply weapons to Israel. We have imposed sanctions on a range of extremist settlers, Israeli settlers, and we will deny any extremist settlers a visa to Australia. So there are things in the resolution we have already done.
We wish we were in a position to have been able to support it. But like the United Kingdom and Canada and Germany, we were not able to support it, and so we have therefore abstained.
Q: Israel is talking about a new phase of the war. How does this bring about peace in Gaza?
Penny Wong:
As I said, you know, we would say to all parties, as I have for some time, that the risks and consequences of a wider war in the Middle East for the security of all peoples, including the people of Israel, are potentially dire.
So we have continued like, as others have, including the United States, to urge restraint on all parties.
Wong concerned about ‘cycle of violence in the Middle East’
Penny Wong spoke to Sabra Lane on ABC radio early, early this morning. She was also asked about Lebanon and said:
Obviously Hizballah is a terrorist organisation supported by Iran, and is listed as such in Australia, but this does reflect the concern I have raised for some time about the possibility of a wider escalation, a regional conflict, and which is why I have been calling for months now for any Australians in Lebanon to return to Australia whilst they still can. The consequences of regional escalation are obviously substantial.
… We do recognise, as I said, Hizballah as a terrorist organisation, and we recognise the unique security circumstances of the State of Israel.
Having said that, you know, we are concerned at all the violence. There is a cycle of violence in the Middle East.
We continue to see civilians in Gaza lost, we obviously have seen civilians attacked in Israel, and our focus is to do what we can from a very long way away to continue to advocate a pathway to peace.
That is the only way in which we will see security for both Israelis and Palestinians and self‑determination for the Palestinian people.
Peter Hannam
Today’s jobs figures to give the RBA food for thought
One gauge of whether Australia will achieve a “soft landing” for the economy as the Reserve Bank hikes interest rates is how well the labour market performs.
The RBA has a twin mandate of fighting inflation but also achieving full employment, although the latter is clearly the bank’s secondary concern. Last week, its chief economist Sarah Hunter made it clear the RBA thinks current conditions are above “full” and that the unemployment rate will need to tick higher to ensure the inflation genie is re-bottled.
Later today, the ABS will release August jobs figures that will reinforce or counter Hunter’s view.
As always, there are potential quirks. The July jobless rate that was reported at 4.2% may be revised up or down. Economists are predicting August’s rate will be steady at 4.2% – provided there’s no revision.
A shift in participation (a measure of the portion of working age folks who are in the workforce or seeking work) may also sway the jobless rate. In July, the participation rate hit a record 67.1%, so any retreat or advance could shift the headline unemployment rate too.
A better measure of the economy’s health seems to be the number of jobs created or lost, particularly full-time ones. Economists expect that employers added 26,000 jobs in August, or less than half the 58,200 (unrevised) added in July. (The workforce swells by about 35,000 a month.)
One landmark, though, might be reached. The Albanese government last month claimed Australia had added 989,200 jobs since taking office in May 2022. A tad over 10,000 additions in August may deliver treasurer Jim Chalmers his “one million new jobs” bragging point.
Stay tuned for the ABS release at 11.30am AEST.
Bragg hits out at ‘Labor & Big Super’ after report pans idea of super for housing
Liberal senator Andrew Bragg is continuing to push for superannuation to be made available to homebuyers.
He sent out a response to a report commissioned by the Super Members Council, but carried out by independent economist Saul Eslake, which did not recommend super be used for a housing deposit.
Eslake says using superannuation for housing would lead to more expensive housing:
We have 60 years of history, which unambiguously tells us, anything that allows Australians to pay more for housing than they otherwise could leads to more expensive housing and not more homeowners.
Of all the demand-fuelling housing policies, the Coalition’s super for housing policy would be the biggest – it can only lead to higher prices.
If super for house was introduced, it would be one of the worst public policy decisions in the last six decades.
The Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young is about to respond to Anthony Albanese’s comments on the government’s plan for gambling ads.
The proposal is not yet public, but the one which went to cabinet was a partial ban. It looks like from the PM’s “the problem isn’t advertising, the problem is gambling” comments this morning, this is what will be put in front of the parliament soon too.
Sport to learn if they will be cut from Commonwealth Games
Given the Commonwealth Games were originally meant to be held in Melbourne and Glasgow has picked them up (albeit reduced) it might be worth having a check in.
AAP reports we the Australian Commonwealth Games Association (CGA), headed by Craig Phillips, will meet with the heads of 22 sports on Friday after confirmation that Scotland will host the event in two years’ time, to see what sports will be included.
With the Games funded by compensation paid by the Victorian government, which pulled out last year citing spiralling costs, Glasgow will be the site of a pared-down festival – with, basically, half the 19 sports in Birmingham, England, in 2022.
While Phillips sits on the executive board of the Commonwealth Games Federation, he said that, as Australia were no longer hosts, they would have no input into which sports would take part.
Glasgow intend the event to be staged at four existing venues, which Phillips said gave a strong indication to what sports that may be.
He said the CGA planned to keep the 22 sports under their umbrella regardless of whether they were part of the Glasgow program, although didn’t commit to the same funding level.
New Zealand economy shrinks again as GDP figures confirm downturn
While we are taking a look at some global economies, New Zealand’s economy has again gone backwards, AAP reports:
On Thursday, Stats NZ confirmed the Kiwi economy contracted by 0.2% in the quarter to June, and 0.2% in the previous 12 months.
It is the fifth quarter in the last seven that GDP figures have been in the red, confirming an economy in retreat, ravaged by high interest rates.
Even more dire was the GDP per head result, an 0.5% fall, marking the seventh consecutive quarter of negative results.
The GDP per capita figures show the Kiwi economy has essentially been propped up by bumper migration in the past two years.
Leading the losses in the June quarter were primary industries, with agriculture dropping 1.4 per cent and mining by 3.7%.
The services sector, which makes up three-quarters of the Kiwi economy, was flat, though wholesale and retail trade also both fell by 1.3%.
Treasurer says ‘do not travel to Lebanon’ as he raises concerns about wider conflict
On what is happening in Lebanon, Jim Chalmers says:
We’ve made it clear Hezbollah is a terrorist organisation, it’s prescribed under the Australian regime.
What we’re seeing in Lebanon is some quite remarkable scenes, and for us more broadly, from an Australian point of view, we are gravely concerned about the human consequences of an escalation of a much broader and wider regional conflict in the Middle East.
We’re worried about the human consequences of that primarily, but the economic fallout as well, and it’s another reminder I think to Australians, do not travel to Lebanon.
We’ve been saying that for some time now. Make sure you don’t go near Lebanon, it is a dangerous place for Australians to visit right now and we’re seeing that in some of this footage.
But don’t expect a change from the RBA in the near future.
Jim Chalmers:
When it comes to the Australian situation, we’ve got inflation coming off pretty substantially, the Reserve Bank will weigh that up. The jobs market here in Australia has been pretty resilient. We’ve seen the unemployment rate come up a bit in the last year or so, we’ve seen job ads come off a bit, but we’ve seen around a million jobs created in our economy.
We’ll get an update on that at 11.30 today, but in the context of a slowing economy and a softening labour market, creating a million jobs under this Albanese Labor government is a pretty remarkable feat. It’s a tribute to our people, their economy, employers and workers.
No government has ever seen in one parliamentary term a million jobs created before, and so that would be a pretty remarkable thing and it’s all about our efforts to make sure that more people are working, earning more and keeping more of what they earn.
We’re making progress on all three of those fronts and that’s a good thing.
Chalmers on rates: ‘We need to see [inflation] come down a bit more
Also on the Nine network, Jim Chalmers spoke about the US Fed cutting interest rates for the first time in four years:
What we saw in the US overnight was pretty much expected. People were expecting a rate cut there. It’s really important to remember that rates went up by more in the US than they did in Australia and even after this interest rate cut overnight in the US, interest rates are still higher in the US than they are here.
When the Reserve Bank meets next week they will consider a whole range of things including that, but they’ll be primarily focused on inflation, as the government is. Inflation had a six in front of it when we came to office, it’s halved since its peak in that year that we were elected, but we need to see it come down a bit more, and we’ll get some new inflation figures in the middle of next week which will tell us a bit more about how we’re going.