HANSARD
SITTING CALENDAR
SEARCH
LIVE BROADCAST
Hansard Dynamic Subject Index
House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-10-17 Daily Xml
Contents
Xml

Motions

Israel

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (11:01): I move:

That this house—

(a) unequivocally condemns the attacks on Israel by Hamas, which are the heinous acts of terrorists, and have encompassed the targeting and murder of civilians, including women and children, the taking of hostages and indiscriminate rocket fire;

(b) stands with Israel and recognises its inherent right to defend itself;

(c) condemns antisemitism and recognises that generations of Jewish people have been subjected to this hateful prejudice;

(d) calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages;

(e) recognises that Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people, nor their legitimate needs and aspirations;

(f) acknowledges the devastating loss of Israeli and Palestinian life and that innocent civilians on all sides are suffering as a result of the attacks by Hamas and the subsequent conflict;

(g) supports justice and freedom for Israelis and Palestinians alike;

(h) supports international efforts to establish and maintain humanitarian access into Gaza, including safe passage for civilians;

(i) reiterates Australia's consistent position in all contexts is to call for the protection of civilian lives and the observance of international law;

(j) acknowledges what has unfolded is deeply distressing for many in the South Australian community, close to the heart of many, and it is important that we maintain respect for each other here at home as people express their views;

(k) condemns all forms of hate speech and violent extremist activity, including antisemitism and Islamophobia;

(l) recognises an attack on any religion is an attack on all religions and that we all share a responsibility to unite, condemn and defeat such an attack on our common values and way of life; and

(m) affirms in the strongest possible terms that hateful prejudice has no place in South Australia.

We gather today as South Australians, members of a multicultural and united community, with a heavy heart. On Saturday 7 October, the terrorist group Hamas launched a series of coordinated attacks upon the people of Israel along the Gaza Strip, killing over a thousand civilians and taking hundreds of hostages in what has become the deadliest militant assault in the life of the nation.

This was an unambiguous attack, an unambiguous act of terrorism against the state of Israel and its people, and an equally unambiguous act of hate against the Jewish people, with the attacks timed to coincide with a day of Jewish celebration. Since then, the situation in Gaza has become one of blood and terror, with casualties rising by the hour.

I want to say plainly that we condemn Hamas for their acts of indiscriminate violence and murder. To the people of the region, I offer our great sympathy. We share your anger, your sorrow and your outrage. I also say this: no matter the cause, no matter the provocation, it is the innocent who invariably suffer most in these moments of violence and bloodshed. It is the men, women and children who have no side, who profess no political or ideological agenda, who pay the greatest price when the bombs begin to fall.

There has already been devastating loss of life, Israeli and Palestinian alike, in the war zone that Gaza has become. We recognise the right of Israel to defend itself from attack, even as we continue to support solutions that would allow the people of the region to live together in peace and mutual recognition. This motion seeks to convey a clear message that the Parliament of South Australia and the people of South Australia wish fervently for peace in the Middle East and the return to a rules-based order.

We support the international humanitarian efforts being made to aid the people of Gaza, and we call for the establishment of corridors to allow safe passage for aid workers, civilians and critical goods alike. We join the international call for the immediate release of all hostages held by Hamas, and we continue to advocate for adherence to the international law and for the protection of civilian lives as a matter of clear and urgent priority.

We also recognise that many South Australians have family, friends and communities in the region, and we know that they are experiencing immense personal distress through this dark and difficult time. I ask that we continue to show respect for one another regardless of individual views on the conflict and reiterate that there is no place for hate speech or extremist violence in our peaceful state. With this motion, the South Australian parliament expresses hope for a swift end to this violent conflict and its horrific cost on human lives and wishes for peace, freedom and justice to prevail for Israelis and Palestinians who call the region home.

I have had the pleasure of visiting the region myself quite a number of years ago. I went to Palestinian territories, meeting with Palestinian people, and also had the opportunity to be in Israel. It was a study tour, so inevitably the theme of the visit for the delegation I was part of was to familiarise ourselves with the complexity of the landscape politically for all concerned. It was striking, having spent some time in Israel and then moving into the West Bank, that there was one absolute truth that was underpinned by consistency, and that was the shared ambition of the Israeli people and Palestinian people to simply have decent lives, to live peacefully with one another.

Whenever we had the opportunity to speak to ordinary Israeli families and ordinary Palestinian families, their preoccupation was with providing for their families and wanting a better future for their children. That was the consistent, paramount desire that each of those families had, that ran secondary to any ideological or political concerns they had about the future. I hope that over the coming days leaders in the Palestinian community, in Gaza and more broadly, and also leaders of Israel have the common sense to contemplate the innocent lives that are currently at stake and in grave danger.

The attack on Israel was unprovoked and undoubtedly necessitates a response from the state of Israel, but there is an opportunity for Israel in its response to be proportionate and contemplate the humanity that I think exists at the heart of the Israeli state generally. I think some of the images that we have borne witness to in more recent days, since the attacks themselves, of thousands upon thousands of bombs falling on Gaza, have profound implications for innocent people in Gaza whom Hamas does not represent.

As a state parliament, through this motion we call on the better angels of both sides to act with decency and a sense of humanity. The state government, as is the case with the commonwealth, supports the long-term pursuit of a two-state solution being realised as being the only practical means to recognise the deep connection that Palestinian people have with the land in that part of the world, and the right of Israel to exist peacefully without the fear of elimination, as is the policy position currently held by other states that it borders, including the leadership of Hamas.

Israel has the right to exist peacefully and to be a proud liberal democracy that it is, but the Palestinian people deserve a prosperous future with a connection to parts of the land that they naturally call home. A two-state solution is something this state endorses, but today we make clear that any act of terrorism is not something this parliament will bear witness to without standing against. I look forward, hopefully, to the parliament endorsing this motion to send the clearest possible signal that this parliament stands for peace.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Leader of the Opposition) (11:12): As the lead speaker on this side of the house on this motion and as the Leader of the Opposition, the leader of the Liberal Party in South Australia, I rise to provide bipartisan support for the motion that has been placed before parliament today. Throughout history, there have been many different groups, ethnicities, faiths, people located in particular geographical locations through no fault of their own—just by the lottery of birth—who have been subject to persecution, who have been subject to attacks by others who may not agree with them or what they stand for or how they ended up being where they are on this planet.

But there can be no more persecuted group, in my assessment, in modern times—and by modern times, I mean in the last century or so—than the Jewish people. The Jewish people have done it exceptionally tough in the last century. There are many people alive today, including my own father, and the parents and grandparents of many people in this chamber today, who can recall the Holocaust when six million Jews lost their lives, because that is within the living memory of far too many people who are with us today.

The Jewish people have been persecuted for millennia to a greater or lesser extent, depending on what moment in history we are talking about. But in modern times that persecution continues to exist. It continues to create great pain and great fear and trepidation amongst a race of people, a race of people who choose to practise Judaism, their chosen faith. That persecution was writ large a little over a week ago in Israel in the Middle East when the terrorists—and they were terrorists—from Hamas swept across the border and into Israel.

We believe around 1,400 people lost their lives in those few hours following that invasion. It could be more, and that number could rise in the coming days and weeks and months. It will inevitably rise as a consequence of the conflict which has now emerged. It is a terrible thing, and we condemn it. We condemn it through this motion, and we say very clearly that we stand with the Jewish people, particularly in Australia but even more so in South Australia, because in this chamber we represent South Australians, we represent all South Australians, no matter their race, no matter the religion that they practise. We represent them all, and we represent the Jewish community.

It is a special thing to have representatives of the Jewish community join us this morning—Norm Schueler, a significant leader in the Jewish community in South Australia. We appreciate you being here, Norm. We know it is a difficult time for you and your community, and we thank you for the leadership, the compassion and the practical action that you have undertaken in recent days as you have sought to provide support and coordination for those in your community who have family and friends and connections within Israel, within that conflict zone. We also thank you for sitting down and praying with and for your community, both here and in Israel.

Our thoughts are with the Jewish community here but, at a more macro level, our thoughts must also be with the people of Israel right now. The uncertainty that is hanging over that nation and the fear that is embedded within its people right now sits across both the Jewish people in Israel and the Palestinians who live in and around that nation, whether it be in Gaza or whether it be further afield.

As the Premier said, we must grasp the humanity of this situation, and we must turn our minds to the innocent people who are caught up in this. Whether they are of Jewish background, whether they have an Islamic faith or whether they have no faith at all they have found themselves in that part of the world at this time, and there is an immense challenge and an immense fear shrouding potentially millions of people at the moment.

Yes, we hear calls for a proportionate response, but I think it is very difficult to quantify or describe what that level of proportionality looks like at this moment in time. I do not want to turn my mind to that at the moment; rather, I want to make it extremely clear that through this motion this house seeks, in a bipartisan fashion, to condemn what happened a little more than a week ago in Israel and make it abundantly clear that we are with our Jewish community at this time.

It should be the case, perhaps it should be the logical case, that the real fear sits with the people who are geographically anchored in Israel at the moment, but unfortunately, because of the nature of this type of conflict, that has spilt over to other places. I know that members of the Jewish community in Australia—hopefully not in South Australia, but certainly in Australia—have gone through pain as a result of antisemitic slurs and a potential fear of attack in this nation.

What we saw on the steps of the Sydney Opera House a week ago was the most grotesque behaviour that you would ever think to see in Australia. I am so grateful that we have not seen that level of antagonism, that level of hate occur in South Australia. Long may we be a jurisdiction, long may we be a melting pot of faiths and cultures where, Norm, you and your community feel that you can walk down the street and worship in your synagogue, connect with your traditions and practise your customs without that fear.

Because your parliament is working hard to guard against that behaviour and to create a foundation of multiculturalism in this state through a range of mechanisms, I hope that at this moment in time you do not feel that fear and, if you do, that this parliament—whether it is the Labor government or the Liberal opposition, or Independent members of this parliament or other political parties—can come together and make sure that your community is protected and given the sense of belonging in this state, because we are better than that. This motion, but more broadly this time, gives us an opportunity to reflect on the great things about this state. Again, in my heart of hearts I hope that your community feels safe and secure in this great state.

Like the Premier, I have had the great privilege of going to Israel. It was just on the cusp of the COVID-19 pandemic in February 2020 that, as South Australia's water minister, I was able to travel to Israel to look particularly at the incredible water innovation that occurs there. Israel is so well known for its innovation and entrepreneurialism across so many different sectors, water being one of them.

One thing that struck me when I went to Israel was the immense diversity of the nation and its relative size compared with Australia. It is a small place. I drove right around Israel in the best part of a day from the Negev in the south, the desert lands, following the Dead Sea, into the north, turning west at Jericho and ascending into the hills around Jerusalem. It started off hot with a baking heat down in the south, to foggy, cold and drizzling when I arrived in Jerusalem. It is a country where, around every corner, there is a historic site stretching back to biblical times.

Israel is a nation whose people are welcoming, steeped in tradition and have a real sense of purpose and geographical place in the world. It is a cosmopolitan place too. I stayed several nights in Tel Aviv, that Mediterranean city, looking towards the west—both physically and symbolically. It is a modern city and a city with great diversity of humanity gathering there. My brief three-day visit to Israel underscored the importance of that place to so many people, and the importance of leaders in places like this and across the Western world and beyond, making sure that we stand up for Israel and that we speak out for Israel when bad things happen there.

My other connection to Israel can be traced back to November 1995, when my mother chose to take my grandmother to the Holy Land for her 60th birthday. My grandmother, a committed Christian, wanted to go there and see those places of significance to her faith and to the faith of the Jewish people. November 1995, though, became an immense turning point for the modern history of Israel because my mother and grandmother were in Tel Aviv when an extremist Israeli pulled out a weapon and killed Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Prime Minister Rabin was working exceptionally hard to create a two-state solution and to bring his people together. It was a difficult task, but he was making progress. On that evening of 4 November 1995, when my mum and grandmother were just around the corner, he fell to the ground.

In February 2020, I had the opportunity to visit the spot where Prime Minister Rabin was killed. It was a very, very difficult time for my family in 1995 when my grandmother and mother were trapped in Tel Aviv, unable to leave their hotel. The fear that we had back in rural Scotland was real. It is nowhere near the extent of the fear and the sadness that the Jewish community in South Australia are experiencing today, but I do have that little connection, that geographical understanding, of the fear that can be inflicted on a community when something goes wrong there.

To the Jewish community in South Australia, please be assured that the party that I lead will be your voice. We will be a calm voice, we will be a reassuring voice, but, when need be, we will be a loud voice for the Jewish community and the people of Israel. This is a hard time for the Jewish community. It may get harder. We hope it gets easier, but the uncertainty that shrouds Jewish people around the world, including here in Australia and South Australia, is real and it is likely growing at the moment. In supporting this motion, my message is abundantly clear: we are with you.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Energy and Mining) (11:26): I cannot imagine what it would be like raising a family now in Israel or Palestine. I cannot imagine what it would be like to have the fear of not being able to keep your family safe or to understand exactly what will occur next. We take for granted the safety of our homes. We take for granted the safety of walking about, going about our daily business. Our children are safe in our schools. Our children are safe at home in their playgrounds. We are not worried about unexploded ordnances. We are not worried about missile attacks. We are not worried about terrorist activity. I can only imagine what an Israeli or Palestinian father is thinking right now about the safety and security of their family.

Violence is never the answer, but too often it is. Israel is home to the three great religions of humanity: Judaism, Islam and Christianity. It has been a long aspiration of mine to visit the Holy Land and to see those sites where our Lord walked, lived and died. It always breaks my heart to see the violence that erupts throughout the Holy Land, and it seems counterintuitive.

Israel is not perfect, but it is a liberal democracy. A liberal democracy has a right to defend itself, and Israel will defend itself. Palestinians have a right to live in a safe and secure home. I hope that the international community and Israel and Palestine can come together and find a solution. Hamas does not speak for Palestinians. Hamas is a terrorist organisation that must be condemned. What they have done is appalling. The atrocities that they have committed cannot be supported and are not supported. They are not supported by Israelis or by the international community. They are not even supported by Palestinians. Hamas have behaved terribly. That is why as a parliament it is important that we speak with one voice condemning violence.

Context is important here. I know that context can be very, very difficult when you look at this 75 years worth of violence. However, these attacks by Hamas go deeper and darker than we have seen before, and they must be condemned. This motion condemns them, and this house condemns them. I hope the Australians who are caught in Gaza can get out.

I understand from our defence minister, our Deputy Prime Minister, that there are 40 Australian families who are stuck in Gaza. I think of and pray for them. I know there are some South Australians who are a part of that cohort and I hope they can get to safety soon with their families. It is a very, very trying time.

The Jewish community of South Australia are a respected community in our state and they are valued, as is our Islamic community and our Palestinian community in our state. I think you have seen the very best of those communities in South Australia, who have shown restraint and who have, I think, conducted themselves exceptionally well in comparison with some other protests, as the Leader of the Opposition mentioned, that were, quite frankly, abhorrent.

I do not know how this conflict will end. I do not know what happens next. What I do know is that innocents will suffer, civilians will be killed and families will be displaced. Hopefully, the violence one day will end.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (11:30): I thank the Premier, the opposition leader and the Leader of the House for the comments they have made. This house will support this resolution in a bipartisan fashion and we will do so because this parliament sees the importance of recognising that this act of grotesque terror that has been inflicted by Hamas on Israel, and the people of Israel, cannot go uncommented on and uncondemned.

We also have to recognise that these are challenging and difficult times. They are the most challenging and difficult times not only for families living in Israel and Gaza but also for our community in South Australia and the community around the world. Anyone observing these atrocities cannot help but feel a connection—if they find their humanity they will feel a connection—to the experience of those families who are experiencing this terror.

We also have other connections. We have Australians who have family in Israel and in Gaza who are directly feeling that challenge. There is distress felt by people in Australia, who have not just personal connections but also spiritual connections with Israel and Palestine, who will feel particularly affected. I think sometimes people ask why this house would talk about issues relating to international affairs when that is not the mandate of the state parliament. Unfortunately, the experience of people living in South Australia—and I think particularly in the Jewish community for reasons I will get to in a moment—is that the experience of antisemitism is still, unfortunately, present.

We must consider that. That is a clear and immediate issue with which the state parliament's responsibilities are squarely brought into play, something that the government does give consideration to. I appreciate that in the last year alone issues raised at Adelaide University were raised by the Leader of the Opposition and responded to by the Premier in a very firm way. I think that was important for our South Australian Jewish community to understand.

I will touch briefly on all three of these matters. The first is in relation to the grotesque inhumanity experienced little over a week ago when a dance party was turned into a place of slaughter and terror, when we saw—and it is dreadfully unfortunate that the experience of social media in the world made it necessary for there to be pictorial evidence shown—children slaughtered, brutalised and burnt. The experience of families whose homes were invaded by terrorists who were not acting in inconsequential ways. They were acting in intentional ways to terrorise a community by seeking out innocents, by committing atrocities intentionally. That was the end. It was not an unintended circumstance: that was the goal.

It must be said—and it is so important to say—that Hamas does not equate with Palestine or with Islam. Hamas does not speak for our Palestinian community or our Islamic community in any way. Hamas is a terrorist organisation. Indeed, the atrocities that Hamas has committed upon the Palestinian people and Islamic people—and through their actions we have seen what has happened to Palestine, and what has happened to Islamic people—I think has it squarely as an enemy of all peoples.

The inhumanity must be understood. It must be understood that there is no reflection on the Palestinian community and Islamic community in South Australia when we identify the grotesque inhumanity and atrocity committed by Hamas, the terrorist organisation that it is.

It is important in a local context to identify the difference between expressing sympathy and solidarity with innocent victims of a conflict and those who are celebrating the brutal behaviour of Hamas. Hamas is a terrorist organisation. I have not seen anything like what we saw in Sydney here in South Australia in recent times, and that is to be acknowledged, but those who would seek to celebrate such behaviours are celebrating terrorism. There are actual hate speech crimes that are on the statutes that should be enforced.

It is also important that, at a time of reflecting on an atrocity, our parliament stands united in desiring a peaceful future for the whole world, obviously. For people who have family in Israel, in Gaza, we want them to experience peace in their lives. Our desire to see that in the years ahead is worth stating on the record, as the Premier, the Leader of the Opposition, the Leader of the House and now I do.

I come to the relevance for South Australia. We are joined in the gallery not only by Norm Schueler, as others have recognised, but also by Kathy Baykitch and members of the board of the Adelaide Holocaust Museum and Andrew Steiner Education Centre. The Leader of the Opposition reflected on the last 100 years. Again, the grotesque industrial genocide committed upon the Jewish people by the Nazi regime in the Shoah (the Holocaust) is an important matter for all South Australians, all our children, to understand and learn about at all times.

I think the behaviours of some people in the community, in fact the behaviours of people with no personal religious or ethnic connection to Israel or Palestine in Australia, is worth highlighting and the importance of Holocaust education. I am going to go back a step further than that and then come back to the work of the Holocaust Museum and thank them for their work. The resilience of the Jewish people in the face of repeated upon repeated generations and millennia of repression and persecution is something to base our hopes for a peaceful future on.

Just in the last week and a half, the Israeli flag was put on display on the Arch of Titus in Rome. Titus was a Roman general, the son of Emperor Vespasian, who would later become Emperor of Rome. Titus was leading the siege of Jerusalem in the decades following the birth of Jesus, and in that siege atrocities were committed on the Jewish people, and there were years and years when the Roman army surrounded Jerusalem prior to the eventual taking of the city. The city was sacked and looted.

The Arch of Titus is seen now as a tourist attraction outside the Coliseum that Vespasian and Titus built. It is seen as a beautiful symbol we think of as ancient history, but for the Jewish people it is so much more than that. As I understand it, in recent decades it has become a symbol of that Jewish resilience. The Jewish population in Rome has continued to be an important part of the Roman community for a very long time, especially in the period since the Second World War, and the Arch of Titus with the Israeli flag on it, as I understand it, has become a symbol of that Jewish resilience.

The Jewish people have been persecuted singularly in unique ways over the millennia since as well. The Magna Carta we think of as a foundational document in our history, in our heritage of the Westminster tradition and in the freedoms of our people to be free from persecution from kings, oligarchs and autocrats. We have one displayed in our own parliamentary library, as I think we should. It is an important and useful historical document. It is more than something to just look at behind a glass because we got this copy from Westminster. It actually bears reading and translation at some point.

For our Jewish community, reading that document highlights again the persecution that they suffered. It was by no means the worst persecution the Jewish people suffered in the last millennium, but Jewish people are singled out in that document for different treatment from Christian people. Jewish people in England, in the time of the Magna Carta, were singled out for different treatment. Jewish people have been expelled from entire countries throughout Europe over the last thousand years.

I reflect on my own faith—I am a baptised Lutheran, as many people would know—and the history surrounding the Reformation. It is a challenging moment when we are thinking of the resilience shown by the Jewish people over millennia, and it is challenging to look through the works of the interpreter of theology who was at the basis of the Lutheran Church. Martin Luther was a persuasive and important figure in world history, and he wrote, at one point, a treatise called That Jesus Christ Was Born a Jew. He was working very hard to bring Jewish people into the Lutheran Church at that time.

Some years later, when not many Jewish people had joined the Lutheran Church, perhaps unsurprisingly, Martin Luther wrote a piece called On the Jews and Their Lies, which several hundred years later, 400 years later, was used, published, republished and circulated by Adolf Hitler, again propagating the hate that backed up his regime of horror and terror.

Antisemitism is not the only example of racist hatred that the world has experienced and become familiar with. Many minorities, religious and ethnic, have experienced persecution and hatred and have had to deal with that. But I think in the 20th century—following the Holocaust in which six million Jews were murdered on an industrial, intentional and genocidal scale—the fact that 70 years later so many young Australians do not have an understanding of something like the Holocaust and that it influences their behaviour today is most unfortunate. I think it has consequences for our community.

I mentioned the Holocaust Museum before. We had a body of work undertaken in 2020 and in 2021 in the education department, when I was the Minister for Education, which was focused on Holocaust education. It was much broader than that: it was a body of work that was writing curriculum units for use in public education, and for non-government schools that would want them, across all levels of the Australian Curriculum.

The Holocaust Museum, which was recently established, was very important in ensuring that the material presented in units that dealt with the Holocaust in the history curriculum were accurate, because there is a lot of material out there, some of which was at one point potentially going to be used in the curriculum, which is actually counterproductive and unhelpful. The museum was of very great assistance to the education department, and I hope that the relationship continues as the materials are updated. The Holocaust Museum was able to identify materials that trivialise the Holocaust in any way and made sure that they were not part of the curriculum that we were offering.

It is important that our young people have access to this information. It is important that schools teach about the Holocaust because, firstly, it occurred in the lifetime of many people in our community. We have Holocaust survivors in our community and we have people like Andrew Steiner who teach young people about the Holocaust. But they will not be with us forever, so the museum and the curriculum become tremendously even more important.

The Holocaust is a tangible experience for so many people in our community who have parents, grandparents or great-grandparents who had some experience of it. It is something that can be taught in schools to give us an understanding, not just of antisemitism and the profound, negative and disastrous role that it has played in our heritage and history but also of all hate, all racism.

The Holocaust Museum, if people have not had the chance to attend, is on Wakefield Street, on the corner of Gawler Place, and easy to get to. School groups are there almost every day it is open. Get in touch with them, please. I encourage you to go and have a look because it is not just a historical perspective of the Holocaust itself but an appeal against racism. It is an appeal for humanity.

It is relevant to our Aboriginal Australians as well. It tells the story of the appeal by Aboriginal leaders in the 1930s to the German embassy on behalf of German Jews. That broad story needs to be told and understood more. I think there is more we can do in our schools and the rollout of those resources is tremendously important.

In supporting this motion—and I trust it will be supported unanimously by the house—we acknowledge the reprehensible and grotesque nature of the acts that were committed and perpetrated by Hamas. We recognise that Hamas is responsible for what has happened since as well.

I want to finish with a couple of reflections on how the world is looking at this. I note that President Macron of France, Chancellor Scholz of Germany, Prime Minister Meloni of Italy, Prime Minister Sunak of the United Kingdom and President Biden of the United States took the extraordinary step of putting out a joint statement last week. Part of that statement said:

All of us recognize the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people and support equal measures of justice and freedom for Israelis and Palestinians alike. But make no mistake: Hamas does not represent those aspirations, and it offers nothing for the Palestinian people other than more terror and more bloodshed.

From our party's point of view in Australia and the federal parliament, the shadow minister for foreign affairs, Simon Birmingham, said:

…Hamas has brought Israel's response upon itself and, in doing so, it has tragically exposed to danger the very people they falsely claim to stand for. Hamas are responsible for the current loss of Israeli, Palestinian and other innocent lives… Nobody wants to see innocent lives lost, least of all those of other children.

They deserve our care and support too. That is why the Coalition supports properly targeted humanitarian assistance.

However, let us not be led into false equivalences.

In attack, Hamas acts with surprise and with intent to brutally kill women and children. In defence, Hamas acts with cowardice by using women and children as shields.

Israel, in contrast, provides public warnings to minimise civilian losses, acting in defence to target the weapons, capabilities and perpetrators of terrorist acts.

Here in this house, we pray for peace. We pray for the peace and wellbeing of people in Israel, Gaza, Palestine and the world and for South Australians of Israeli, Jewish, Palestinian or Islamic heritage and faith we pray for peace as well.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee—Treasurer) (11:47): I rise to support the motion that has been put to the house and is being supported in a bipartisan manner. I thank those members who have spoken already: the Premier, the Leader of the Opposition, the deputy leader and the Leader of Government Business.

I think all of us acknowledge the genuine shock and horror that we all felt when the news was first reported of these horrendous acts of terrorism. These were not only acts of terrorism perpetrated by Hamas on the sovereign nation of Israel but they were designed in particular to target as many defenceless members of the civilian population as possible.

They were also particularly barbaric, which is saying something given what can sometimes be reported across the media. The world has responded with genuine shock and horror at some of the barbarous acts undertaken with precise and deliberate motive by Hamas upon Israel's civilian population, in particular those two events singling out not only young attendees of a music festival but the even more almost unspeakably horrific acts committed against babies and very young children who were captured and slain.

These were not acts of one organisation against military installations or against military personnel. They were deliberately designed to be such shocking acts of terror so as to not only inflict terrorism on the Israeli people but also they were calculated to try to engender a response which would cause undeniable further loss of civilian life. Nothing—nothing—can excuse or accommodate that behaviour. I am really pleased that members on both sides are joining together to condemn this most vile behaviour, particularly vile behaviour conducted in these modern times.

I would also like to echo the sentiments of the Leader of the Opposition and the Premier to acknowledge the extraordinary continuation of leadership of local communities here in South Australia which represent those communities more broadly, in particular in this region of the Middle East, that are profoundly impacted by this act of terrorism last week.

I think all of us absolutely abhor the conduct of those people in Sydney immediately following the terrorism attacks in Israel last week. I think it stands not only as our quite different approach as a community here in South Australia, but the strength of leadership shown in particular by the leadership of the Jewish community here in South Australia and also leaders of community groups representing Palestinian people and more broader communities across the Middle East.

I have had the great privilege and fortune to get to know some of these communities by virtue of being a member of parliament. I have had the opportunity to speak with some members of those communities and I know how profoundly and deeply hurt they feel. Many have family members or other people known to them, friends or other loved ones who are caught up in what is happening right now over in this region. I think few, if any, of us can imagine what that must be like, having family members or other acquaintances or loved ones that are caught up in this.

Of course, we all reconfirm our views that we abhor violence of any type in these situations and that we want these sorts of hostilities—if I can put it gently—or atrocities to end as quickly as possible. That is why I think this motion is as necessarily detailed as it is, not only to be absolutely categoric and fulsome in the condemnation of the Hamas attacks on the people of Israel but also to reconfirm what we all together take great pride in reaffirming, and that is that we do not want to see any of this sort of behaviour anywhere on our planet, and that if there can be any efforts to bring these hostilities to an end as quickly as possible, then of course we support those.

I am very glad that this house has taken this opportunity to focus quite correctly and quite specifically on condemnation of what happened last week, rather than trying—as some people more broadly across the Australian and global community have tried—to have this as an opportunity to relitigate their personal perspective on broader issues that they believe are also at play here. No doubt that will occur in different places and at different times.

I am very pleased that this house is taking this opportunity to stand firm in specific condemnation of what Hamas has done to the Israeli people. It is deeply shocking. There is absolutely no justification for it whatsoever, regardless of what they believe to be their context. I am very pleased to lend my support to this motion.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA (Hartley) (11:55): I, too:

unequivocally condemn the attacks on Israel by Hamas, which are the heinous acts of terrorists, and have encompassed the targeting and murder of civilians, including women and children, the taking of hostages and indiscriminate rocket fire;

stand with Israel and recognise its inherent right to defend itself;

condemn antisemitism and recognise that generations of Jewish people have been subjected to this hateful prejudice;

call for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages;

recognise that Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people, nor their legitimate needs and aspirations;

acknowledge the devastating loss of Israeli and Palestinian life and that innocent civilians on all sides are suffering as a result of the attacks by Hamas and the subsequent conflict;

support justice and freedom for Israelis and Palestinians alike;

support international efforts to establish and maintain humanitarian access into Gaza, including safe passage for civilians;

reiterate Australia's consistent position in all contexts is to call for the protection of civilian lives and the observance of international law;

acknowledge what has unfolded is deeply distressing for many in the SA community, close to the heart of many, and it is important that we maintain respect for each other here at home as people express their views;

condemn all forms of hate speech and violent extremist activity, including antisemitism and Islamophobia;

recognise an attack on any religion is an attack on all religions and that we share a responsibility to unite, condemn and defeat such an attack on our common values and way of life; and

affirm in the strongest possible terms that hateful prejudice has no place in South Australia.

I also stand for the preservation and the protection of civilian lives. I call on the civilised world not to turn its back on humanity here. I call out the absolutely unnecessary loss of life that is occurring here in this devastating, tragic set of circumstances.

I was supposed to be in the Middle East, visiting the Holy Land, only a couple of weeks ago. For various reasons, having a young family and a change of schedule, it did not work out. The point is that there are so many people who are stranded in the Middle East who are innocent, who are civilians, who are tourists, young families, who are there trying to get out at the moment. This tragic set of circumstances has led to thousands of innocent people being killed. It is just so devastating, and it is important that we as a house send a very strong message that we condemn the attacks that occurred about a week ago.

Like many of us in this chamber, I have good, peace-loving friends who are Israeli and Palestinian. I have been in touch with them, ensuring that hopefully their friends and family are safe as well. In one circumstance, I know a young couple here who are expecting their second child. The gentleman is Israeli. He only recently became an Australian citizen, a matter of months ago, and it is only by pure chance that he has not been called up again for military service, with a baby here and another child on the way. Unfortunately, we know that there are people who are in the conflict. It is their home. They cannot escape. Our hearts go out to these people who are affected by this tragic set of circumstances that we have seen.

Much has been said about antisemitism. I was only recently looking at a post by an Italian politician. Sometimes what you see on the 6 o'clock news, for example, might only be a snippet of what is actually occurring in the world, so I do like to watch overseas news channels. To quote Matteo Salvini:

October 16, 80 years ago, breaking in the Rome ghetto, 1,259 people dragged into camps, many of them women. Almost everyone died, only 16 made a return.

That was 80 years ago nearly to the day and, unfortunately, still we see people out there who want to spread antisemitic hate, Islamophobic hate, hate against other religions. It is important that we call these things out and that they cannot go on any further.

To see young women, children, families, babies and innocent young people at a music festival literally barbarically killed in the way that they were was absolutely brutish. It is shocking and the civilised world has to call this stuff out and make sure that we get behind the powers that be to ensure that more citizens, more civilians, are not killed in this devastating situation at the moment.

There are also many peace-loving Palestinians and peace-loving Israelis who are now paying a terrible price. They are paying a terrible price for what is continuing to unfold in the Middle East. It is important to also understand that Hamas is the enemy of peace. Hamas are not conducting themselves in a way that will further the cause of peace-loving Palestinian people.

I certainly hope that there can also be safe passage for innocent civilians. I hope that there will be a negotiated two-state solution, with internationally recognised borders, so that peace-loving Palestinian people and peace-loving Israeli people can move forward. Unfortunately, we know that that is still a long time away. We cannot even imagine the trauma that people are going through in the Middle East at the moment, but genuinely and sincerely I hope that the fighting ends soon and that peace does prevail soon.

I also want to take this opportunity to pass on my sincere regards to those in South Australia who are from the Israeli community and also the Palestinian community—as I have said, people I have come to know who are good, law-abiding and peace-loving people. Many of you may be aware that I had, for example, the great nephew of Andrew Steiner as a very good staff member of mine in government. At the same time, I have also come to know many in my local community who have Palestinian origins as well.

As has been alluded to today, we have not seen any of the scenes that we saw, unfortunately, around parts of the East Coast of Australia and around other parts of the world, where people have been allowed to spread these messages of hate that have also deteriorated into violence. This is absolutely shocking stuff. We all have a responsibility here as members of a free and democratic society to hold onto this concept dearly and to make sure we do what we can to stamp out any situation of hatred that is spread.

I want to wind up by saying that I really do hope that this conflict ends soon. I pray for the families and the friends of those who are impacted by this devastation, and I hope that the situation reaches an amicable agreement in the not too distant future.

Mr TEAGUE (Heysen) (12:04): I rise to commend the motion and, in doing so, I wish to emphasise that it is important we speak plainly on this occasion, as so many who have contributed to the debate have. The reason we are here debating this motion today is the result of the most horrendous act of terrorism that the world has seen in many decades—indeed, a single act of terrorism the likes of which Israel has not seen and the Jewish people have not seen since those horrible years of the Holocaust. It is important that we are clear about this.

This act of terrorism was brutally imparted upon civilians in the south of Israel with no notice and with the most horrendous and callous lack of humanity that one can possibly imagine. It was brutal, it was murderous, it was inhumane. It was characterised by wholesale slaughter of young people, of men, of women and of babies, and it included what we have seen then and since: the rape, the torture, the beheading of the most vulnerable and most innocent people.

Those acts of terror were imposed by the terrorist organisation called Hamas. Israel has every right to remove Hamas. We stand with Israel in taking action to defend Israel to remove Hamas, and we stand united in what is that important cause ahead.

But why are we here, even more particularly, reflecting on these horrors? We are reflecting on these horrors in circumstances that the Deputy Leader of the Opposition has so ably articulated—against the background of hundreds of years of existential threats against the right of the Jewish people to exist throughout the world. It extends now to the right of Israel to exist. These acts were perpetrated by a terrorist organisation whose objective is to maintain a fight against the right of Israel to exist. Hamas must be removed.

In standing with Jewish people and endeavouring to understand just some modicum of what Jewish people, both in Israel and throughout the world, feel and experience in response to an act of terror committed by a terrorist organisation committed to the end of Jewish people and the state of Israel, this is truly the contemplation of an existential threat to people we hold dear here in Australia and here in South Australia. We stand with those of us in South Australia who are Jewish, as we stand together with Israel as it lives through this horrible experience.

The presence today in the chamber of Norman Schueler OAM has been recognised. I, too, recognise your presence, Norman, and your leadership, steadfast as it has been in South Australia over decades. Norman Schueler was chair of the then South Australian Multicultural and Ethnic Affairs Commission, director of the Australia Day Council and, of course, long-time president of the Jewish Community Council of South Australia, just to illustrate the extent of commitment to leadership in our South Australian community that Norman has demonstrated. I say this: those of us in South Australia who are Palestinian or of Palestinian heritage have a great friend in the Jewish Community Council and in its leadership, and in Norman in particular.

I look for opportunities for those of us from those communities to look for ways, here in Australia, to support one another, to understand one another and to do what we have so successfully been able to achieve in South Australia, and that is to demonstrate what the multiple cultures that are brought here to South Australia can achieve in this place.

In speaking plainly, as I have, about an act of terror that we condemn today, I want to emphasise that there can be no peace, no resolution, no outcome of long standing, unless we recommit ourselves to a rules-based order, to the application of principle and to the necessary application and bringing to justice of those events. If we equivocate and look to contextualise, then we fail to identify and we fail in our task to address those acts of terror, so it is very important that we do so. I have spoken, of course, to the special context in which those acts of terror have been committed on the state of Israel.

Australia, of course, is committed to Israel. Australia supported the UN partition plan in 1947 and, as others have said, including in the federal debate that we heard in our parliament in Canberra just yesterday, was among the first countries to recognise the state of Israel in 1949. We here in the parliament of South Australia stand with those members of the Jewish community in South Australia, we stand with the state of Israel, we seek justice and, of course, we seek a peaceful resolution to what is an ongoing distressing and most difficult circumstance in Israel at this time.

I commend all aspects of the motion. Let there never again be seen the kind of horrendous terrorism that was seen on Saturday 7 October 2023.

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (12:13): I rise to support this motion in support of Israel, and I, too, want to acknowledge Norman Schueler OAM and other guests in the gallery here today. This house unequivocally condemns the attacks on Israel by Hamas, which are the heinous acts of terrorists and have encompassed the targeting and murder of civilians, including women and children, the taking of hostages and indiscriminate rocket fire.

What we saw in recent days was the absolutely cowardly attack by Hamas terrorists on the innocents of Israel—the innocent babies, the innocent children, the innocent men and women, especially the young men and women who were at that music festival, enjoying themselves. As has been described already, there were heinous acts—heinous acts—of beheadings and other terrible ways to murder civilians to try to get some message across. Well, it does not work. It does not work, especially against a state, a country, like Israel. We do condemn these heinous acts, and the people of Palestine must do their bit as well to shut Hamas down.

We do stand with Israel and recognise its inherent right to defend itself. In talking about that, I want to acknowledge the citizens of Israel; its defence force, the Israel Defence Forces; and the reservists who are being flown home from all over the world, willingly, to defend their homeland. Our thoughts and prayers are certainly with them.

We certainly condemn antisemitism, and we recognise that generations of Jewish people have been subjected to this hateful prejudice. We have seen this happen over millennia to the Jewish people, because they are successful. They are very successful in a whole range of ways, whether it is engineering, whether it is in finance. But, certainly, in standing up for themselves, as they have had to, I would suggest they would be the toughest people in the world—because they have had to be. They have had to stand up for themselves.

We certainly call for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. I note that hundreds of hostages have been taken, and I really feel for them. I know that the Israeli defence force will be doing its utmost to get their release, and I cannot but think of the terror, not just for them but for their families. It would be too horrific to bear.

As I have already indicated, we recognise that Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people, nor their legitimate needs and aspirations. They certainly do not, and they continue to send rockets into Israel, knowing that innocent civilians will be killed not just in Israel but in Palestine, the place they think they stand for. I could not think of anything further from the truth.

We acknowledge the devastating loss of Israeli and Palestinian life and that innocent civilians on all sides are suffering as a result of the attacks by Hamas and the subsequent conflict, and that is ongoing. We do support justice and freedom for Israelis and Palestinians alike, and we support international efforts to establish and maintain humanitarian access into Gaza, including safe passage for civilians.

I want to acknowledge the restraint shown by the Israeli defence force in giving time lines on any possible movement into Gaza, restraint that has been extended multiple times, because they are trying to get realistic outcomes in the defence of their homeland. We reiterate Australia's consistent position in all contexts to call for the protection of civilian lives and the observance of international law.

We do acknowledge that what has unfolded is deeply distressing for many in the South Australian community. It is close to the heart of many, and it is important that we maintain respect for each other here at home as people express their views.

Before the Palestinian protest on the weekend here in Adelaide I was asked by several people what my views were and I said, 'I support peaceful protest,' and I do. The rights that we have in this country are to be celebrated, but once things get away from being that we have problems. From all reports it was a peaceful protest. It is a good thing that people have the right to speak out, and certainly the Israeli people have that right as well.

We condemn all forms of hate speech and violent extremist activity, including antisemitism and Islamophobia, and we recognise that an attack on any religion is an attack on all religions and that we all share a responsibility to unite, condemn and defeat such an attack on our common values and way of life. We affirm in the strongest possible terms that hateful prejudice has no place in South Australia.

I hope that this conflict comes to an end sooner rather than later. I urge everyone to have a good hard look at what is going on, on whatever side of the line they are, and to use restraint and negotiation where possible. I certainly support Israel and its right to defend itself, but I also urge restraint in the broader Middle East region from Israel's neighbours and others and also from the massing western forces. I know that the Unites States has sent two carrier groups. We need this to be resolved peacefully, and I urge that to happen not just for Israel but for the world.

The Hon. D.G. PISONI (Unley) (12:21): I stand today to voice my unequivocal support for the motion that condemns the attacks on Israel by Hamas. These attacks—undoubtedly the heinous acts of terrorists—have caused immeasurable suffering and loss of innocent lives. It is imperative that we come together to address this issue and affirm our commitment to peace, justice and the protection of civilian lives.

Let us begin by acknowledging the gravity of the situation. Hamas has been responsible for the targeting and murder of civilians, including women and children. These are not isolated incidents; they are part of a larger pattern of violence that threatens the very essence of human dignity. The taking of hostages and indiscriminate rocket fire further underscore the ruthless tactics employed by this terrorist group. We cannot and must not remain silent in the face of such atrocities.

As we condemn these attacks we also affirm the inherent right of Israel to defend itself. Every nation has the right to protect its citizens from external threats. The attacks by Hamas have forced Israel into a defensive position and it is our moral obligation to support their efforts to ensure the safety and security of their people.

Simultaneously, it is essential that we condemn antisemitism in all its forms. Generations of Jewish people have been subjected to this hateful prejudice and it is our duty to stand against it. We must remember that an attack on any religion is an attack on all religions, and as a diverse society we share the responsibility to unite, condemn and defeat such attacks on our common values and way of life.

Our call for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages is an expression of our unwavering commitment to human rights and the protection of innocent lives. Hostage-taking is a grave violation of these rights, and we cannot stand idly by while innocent individuals suffer in captivity. It is crucial to recognise that Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people or their legitimate needs and aspirations. The actions of these extremist groups do not reflect the desires of the broader Palestinian population for peace and prosperity. We must distinguish between the actions of terrorist organisations and the aspirations of an entire community.

The ongoing conflict has resulted in a devastating loss of life on both the Israeli and the Palestinian sides. Innocent civilians are suffering and the humanitarian situation is dire. We must support international efforts to establish and maintain humanitarian access to Gaza, including safe passage for civilians. This is a crucial step in mitigating the suffering and the loss of those caught in the crossfire.

Furthermore, it is our responsibility to reiterate Australia's consistent position in all its contexts, which is to call for the protection of civilian lives and the observance of international law. We also acknowledge that the events in the Middle East have deeply distressed many within the South Australian community. This issue is close to the hearts of many and it is important that we maintain respect for each other as people express their views. In this parliament, we must ensure that dialogue and understanding prevail when opinions differ.

In line with the commitment to justice and freedom we bring to this place, we must also condemn all forms of hate speech and violent extremist activity, including antisemitism. Those forms of hate have no place in our society and must be confronted head-on. We cannot allow intolerance and discrimination to flourish.

We must firmly affirm that hateful prejudice has no place in South Australia. Our collective voice against these heinous acts in support of Israel's right to defend itself and in condemnation of antisemitism is an expression of our commitment to peace, justice and the protection of human lives. Let us stand united in pursuit of a better future for all in the Middle East and here at home as we uphold the values that define our society.

I reflect on the horrific story that we heard, that occurred on Saturday 7 October, of the indiscriminate murder of about 260 young people whose only crime was attending a music festival. The men were shot in the back and shot instantly. The women were shot in the legs so they could be raped before they were murdered. Can you imagine? Can you imagine the horrific last minutes of those women's lives? This is what Israel is dealing with in this issue, such hatred for the Jewish community by the Hamas terrorists.

I am appalled and shocked by the actions of four Green members of the federal parliament, when every member of the Labor Party and every member of the Liberal Party and every Independent member of the parliament voted to support a similar motion in the federal parliament yesterday and the Greens voted to support terrorism. It is an absolute shame, an absolute disgrace.

What message does that send to those many young people who turn to the Greens for advice and guidance—to support terrorism? What we have seen from the Greens and other extreme groups in recent years is that they are prepared to ignore conventions and ignore the law if they are fighting for a cause that they believe in. That is not how society works.

This place has many elements that reflect its violent past, because the House of Commons was a house of the common people. People were not necessarily as articulate as those in the House of Lords, and consequently when men wore their swords in this chamber violence would break out. To this day, we all have allocated seats that evolved from the removal of violence in a political debate, starting with the bloodline that was set up for people to stand behind when they spoke so that their swords could not connect, if they drew those swords.

The mace is there reminding everybody of the authority of the Speaker, but the mace's role was initially as a tool to use in a violent manner against members of the House of Commons who behaved inappropriately. Today, it has evolved to remind us all that the Speaker is in control of this chamber and we must respect the Speaker.

The actions of Hamas and terrorists like Hamas have taken their claims, their argument, back about 800 years when violence was seen as the only alternative to winning a debate. The world moved past that many years ago. We must return to civil debate based on facts, based on what is fair, based on what is right, based on democracy—and that is what I call for.

Mr TELFER (Flinders) (12:29): I rise to briefly speak on this motion. I think it is especially pertinent that at the first opportunity this place comes back together that we, in a bipartisan manner, unequivocally condemn the attacks on Israel by Hamas, that without any ambiguity around that condemnation we come together and highlight that these acts were those heinous, hateful, vengeful acts of a terrorist organisation and the targeting and murder of civilians, especially the women and children, the taking of hostages and the indiscriminate rocket fire, we absolutely condemn.

We are living in a time when the world feels smaller than it once did and the connections that there are across different countries back to different areas of our world cannot be denied. That is why it is also important that the 13 parts of this motion have all been highlighted, but especially that we acknowledge that what has unfolded over the other side of the world, but being so close, is deeply distressing for many in the South Australian community and the Australian community, that it is close to the heart of many. It is important that we maintain that respect for each other in South Australia, as each of us come to grips with what has happened.

Especially important is paragraph (b), that we stand with Israel and recognise its inherent right to defend itself. The nation of Israel has gone through a challenging past and has been spoken about already through decades, through centuries, through millennia. There should be no excuse for hateful, antisemitic behaviours or speech and we should recognise that generations of Jewish people have been subjected to that hateful prejudice.

The taking of hostages I think is one of the most incredibly vile forms of terrorism that we have seen, and that is why this motion calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. Using human life as a bargaining tool, as a weapon of war, is a disgusting and heinous act. My heart goes out to those people who are caught in this, the families who have family members there, they do not know if they have been murdered or taken hostage—they do not know the circumstances of each individual.

Those individual personal circumstances are far beyond our understanding in this place, but we do, through this motion, through these 13 parts, highlight that this deliberate attack, one to deliberately inflict terror onto the people of Israel, the Jewish community across the world and the population of the world as a whole, should be utterly condemned. At this time, as we move this motion, I am sure I join all of us in praying for Israel, praying for its people and for the innocent people caught up in this conflict, but most of all we pray for peace.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Could members please rise so that the motion can be carried in the customary way.

Motion carried by members standing in their places in silence.

PARLIAMENTARY BUSINESS
MEMBERS
GET INVOLVED
ABOUT PARLIAMENT
VISIT
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
CONTACT