Middle East conflict
Ellen SANDELL (Melbourne) (14:30): We always did know that the Greens were the real opposition anyway. My question is to the Premier. Two weeks ago the International Court of Justice, the UN’s highest court, declared that Israel’s occupation of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem is unlawful. The ICJ also said that all states must immediately review all diplomatic, political and economic ties with Israel, inclusive of business and finance, pension funds, academia and charities. Yet here in Victoria the Labor government has signed an MOU with the Israeli Ministry of Defense to support greater collaboration and share opportunities between Victoria and the Israeli Ministry of Defense. My question is: will the Premier follow the UN court’s advice and now rip up this MOU with the Israeli Ministry of Defense?
Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:31): I thank the member for Melbourne and Leader of the Greens. As tempted as I am to use this as an opportunity, this is a very serious question containing very serious subject matter. I do note the member referred to the ICJ ruling and her reference that advice was given to states. The states that are referred to in that context are of course nation-states, national jurisdictions that hold the responsibility on behalf of their nations for engaging in foreign relations and foreign affairs matters. That is not the role of a subsovereign jurisdiction.
I have been very careful to reinforce this point on a number of occasions, and I want to be absolutely clear. I and our government utterly condemn the Hamas invasion, the terrorist invasion, that occurred on 7 October. We utterly condemn that. Like so many in the community, we have continued to, for some, watch from a distance, but so many in our community have been watching with deep, close, personal distress because we know that so many in our community here in Melbourne and Victoria have family and friends and loved ones in Palestine and in Israel who are suffering deep loss, horrendous loss, horrific loss as a consequence of this ongoing conflict.
We all want this conflict to stop. That is why, on behalf of the role that we play here in Victoria, noting as I have said that in my very firm view it would be inappropriate to cut across the work that our federal government are doing, who appropriately speak on behalf of our nation on these matters, I do support the call that has been made for a ceasefire, for the release of hostages and for the flow of humanitarian aid. We have seen an escalation in recent days of this conflict. There is clearly still some way to go with this conflict, which means more kids are going to get killed, more loved ones are going to lose their lives and more people are going to need our love and support. That is what I am focused on, the role that we must play here in Victoria – not a political role but a human role, not a role that engages in political pointscoring but a role where we wrap our arms around people in our community and stand with them, Jewish and Palestinian, and say we reach out and love one another and provide support and want this conflict to end.
Ellen SANDELL (Melbourne) (14:34): I thank the Premier for her answer. The Premier mentioned that subnational jurisdictions should not have responsibility for international relations or relations with other defence ministries. If that is the case, if the Premier does not believe that the state of Victoria has responsibility in this matter and if she believes that this is a horrific war that she wants to end, why did the Victorian government sign an MOU with the Israeli Ministry of Defense and why won’t she stand up now and cancel it?
Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:35): Can I just be absolutely clear. My reference to subsovereign jurisdictions’ role in these matters is in the context of the federal government’s responsibility for leading the foreign relations and foreign affairs relationships on behalf of our nation. Jurisdictions, including local government and state government, have long worked on deepening cultural ties and links and trade links with other jurisdictions around the world. Our state has a number of sister city relationships as evidence of that. I was in Whitehorse at the Box Hill town hall recently, where we had a wonderful celebration of Chinese culture and heritage and the contribution that Chinese Victorians have made to our state. It is absolutely appropriate that the state of Victoria has those cultural and economic relationships, because it strengthens all of us, and that is what we should be focused on at this time of conflict.