It seems to me that, if you go through the decades, one government after the other in this country—in particular Liberal or coalition governments—have consistently accepted that Tel Aviv is the capital of Israel and that that’s where our embassy should be. It was only the cynical attempt by the Morrison government that sought to change that.
Full speech
Mr ZAPPIA (Makin) (12:26): I begin by commending the comments of the member for Macquarie a few moments ago. This matter was raised in a matter of public importance in the House of Representatives only a couple of weeks ago. It got no traction then, and this motion won’t get any traction either. It won’t get any traction, because the facts with respect to this whole issue are absolutely clear.
The decision initially by the Morrison government to relocate the Australian embassy to West Jerusalem and to follow in the footsteps of the USA was nothing but a cynical political manoeuvre in the lead-up to the Wentworth by-election in 2018—a manoeuvre which ultimately failed. After it failed, the Morrison government backed down on its decision anyway, and the embassy has remained in Tel Aviv ever since.
As the Minister for Foreign Affairs quite rightly pointed out in her press statement of October this year:
Today the Government has reaffirmed Australia’s previous and longstanding position that Jerusalem is a final status issue that should be resolved as part of any peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian people.
The statement goes on to say:
Australia’s embassy has always been, and remains, in Tel Aviv.
From some quick research I did, there are some 90 embassies in Israel, and 86 of them are in Tel Aviv. The four that are not include the American embassy and three other countries that have followed, obviously, in American footsteps. But 86 are in Tel Aviv, which means the global opinion is that that’s where they ought to be.
I won’t go into quotes from Australian Labor Party leaders over the years, but I’ll quote from some of the Liberal leaders over the 70 or so years since the embassy was first established there. Prime Minister Howard, Prime Minister Abbott and Prime Minister Turnbull all accepted Tel Aviv as the place for the Australian embassy to be. Liberal Prime Minister Howard in a joint press conference with PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat in May 2000 said:
The status of Jerusalem is something that will be resolved by the parties in the discussion.
In other words, there needs to be further dialogue on that very issue. Liberal Foreign Minister Bishop said plainly, too:
Matters relating to Jerusalem are subject to final status negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
Even the Gorton government after the 1967 agreement did not recognise anything else but that.
It seems to me that, if you go through the decades, one government after the other in this country—in particular Liberal or coalition governments—have consistently accepted that Tel Aviv is the capital of Israel and that that’s where our embassy should be. It was only the cynical attempt by the Morrison government that sought to change that.
When members opposite now come into the chamber and talk about the manoeuvres of this government, can I say: it was their own government that made a decision without, I understand, their foreign minister of the day even being aware, without any consultation and without any advice from the very departments that they should have sought advice from if they were going to make such a move. It is absolutely clear that it was a decision made with one purpose and one purpose only, and that was to try and win over the Jewish vote in the Wentworth by-election—a manoeuvre which not only failed then but ultimately resulted in the Morrison government having to reverse its own position on the matter.
The Labor Party and the government well understand that the position with respect to Jerusalem is one that will require a great deal of negotiation into the future. It is a matter that we understand is very important to both Israel and the Palestinian people. And it’s a matter that will only be resolved by negotiation and dialogue. It won’t be resolved by political tactics in this place, similar to those used by the Morrison government in 2018 and which are now being used again to try and justify this confected outrage about Labor’s decision to simply do what has been done from day one, and that is to recognise Tel Aviv as the capital of Jerusalem, and that’s where our embassy should be.