Elizabeth Watson-Brown (Ryan, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Let's call it what it is—a genocide. It's a genocide when half a million people are on the brink of starvation with almost the entire population of Gaza experiencing acute food insecurity. It's a genocide when they're massacring starving people lining up for food. It's a genocide when hospitals are treating children with wounds from sniper rifles. It's a genocide when the Israeli defence minister talks about forcing all Palestinians in Gaza into an internment zone along the southern border. It's a genocide when the Israeli finance minister said that Gaza will be totally destroyed.

We have a duty under international law to prevent genocide. Our refusal to act will be a stain on this nation's history. When it's a genocide, you don't just say, 'We can't possibly do anything about this.' Labor still calls Israel a friend and an ally. I'm sorry—a state committing a genocide is not a friend. Labor finally says it supports an end to the conflict and calls Israel's actions indefensible but has not stopped arms exports to Israel. They have not sanctioned them like we've sanctioned Russia for their invasion of Ukraine. It's not a conflict; it's a genocide. Our Labor government should call it what it is and take every possible action to stop it.

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