Jerusalem is the home of the Israeli government and the capital of Israel. It is about time Australia accepted this and followed the courageous steps taken by the President of the United States.
Full speech
Senator McGRATH (Queensland—Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) (16:37): I seek leave to make a short statement.
The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Leave is granted for one minute.
Senator McGRATH: The government considers Jerusalem to be a final status issue for negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Australia will continue to maintain its embassy in Tel Aviv. The Prime Minister and the Minister for Foreign Affairs have restated Australian policy on several recent occasions. The government has no plans to relocate the embassy to Jerusalem. Australia considers that, in view of the highly sensitive status of Jerusalem and its consideration as a final status issue, it is not conducive to the peace process to move the embassy there.
The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: The question is that general business notice of motion No. 840, standing in the name of Senator Anning, be agreed to.