Australia set to finalise decision to recognise Palestinian statehood within days
Tom McIlroy
Australia is poised to confirm its position to recognise Palestinian statehood within days, cabinet sources have confirmed to Guardian Australia.
Labor was preparing to recognise Palestine ahead of the upcoming United Nations general assembly in New York next month, but this morning’s cabinet meeting in Canberra looks to be a critical juncture in the decision.
The Sydney Morning Herald and the Age reported the fast-moving decision on Monday morning. Australia will match moves by countries including France, Canada and the UK.
It follows comments by Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, this morning lambasting Australia and European countries considering the recognition of a Palestinian state amid growing disapproval over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
He said other nations were “falling into a rabbit hole”, saying debate around such recognition was “shameful”.
To have European countries and Australia march into that, march into that rabbit hole, just like that, fall right into it. This canard is disappointing, and I think it’s actually shameful. But it’s not going to take, it’s not going to change our position.
The foreign minister, Penny Wong, reportedly told her Israeli counterpart, Gideon Saar, that Labor would move within days on the decision.
Key events
Josh Butler
Ed Husic says ‘the sooner the better’ on reports of recognition of Palestinian state
Labor MP Ed Husic has welcomed reports the government is poised to imminently announce its plans to recognise a Palestinian state.
In a story on Instagram, Husic shared a post from the Financial Review which said Australia could announce its recognition plans within days. He wrote in a caption alongside the post:
Good. We absolutely should. The sooner the better.
Watt says ‘no secret’ that government is working with states and territories on EV road user charge
The environment minister, Murray Watt, said it is “no secret” the government is working with states and territories on a road user charge for electric vehicles after The Australian reported this morning the treasurer is advancing discussions on the effort ahead of his productivity roundtable next week.
The high court found a Victorian effort to impose an electric vehicle tax was unconstitutional in 2023 because only the commonwealth had the power to impose such taxes. Watt said this morning the government had been considering ways to do so ever since that ruling:
It’s no secret that we’ve said previously that we’ll work with the states and territories on this matter. … You’d be aware that there was a high court decision which really raised this issue front and centre and ever since then, we’ve been working with the states and territories.
But it’s probably premature to say exactly what will occur.
Australia set to finalise decision to recognise Palestinian statehood within days
Tom McIlroy
Australia is poised to confirm its position to recognise Palestinian statehood within days, cabinet sources have confirmed to Guardian Australia.
Labor was preparing to recognise Palestine ahead of the upcoming United Nations general assembly in New York next month, but this morning’s cabinet meeting in Canberra looks to be a critical juncture in the decision.
The Sydney Morning Herald and the Age reported the fast-moving decision on Monday morning. Australia will match moves by countries including France, Canada and the UK.
It follows comments by Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, this morning lambasting Australia and European countries considering the recognition of a Palestinian state amid growing disapproval over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
He said other nations were “falling into a rabbit hole”, saying debate around such recognition was “shameful”.
To have European countries and Australia march into that, march into that rabbit hole, just like that, fall right into it. This canard is disappointing, and I think it’s actually shameful. But it’s not going to take, it’s not going to change our position.
The foreign minister, Penny Wong, reportedly told her Israeli counterpart, Gideon Saar, that Labor would move within days on the decision.
Patrick Commins
What would a rate cut mean for mortgage holders?
Economists and financial markets are once again convinced the RBA board will cut the official cash rate from 3.85% to 3.6%.
If the RBA does cut rates for the third time this year, then homeowners with a variable mortgage should not be paying interest of more than 5.5%, said Sally Tindall, the data insights director at Canstar, an online comparison site. She said:
In fact, if the majority of banks pass the cut on in full, which they should absolutely do, then there should be over 30 lenders offering at least one variable rate under 5.25%, while CBA and Westpac’s lowest rates could hit 5.34%.
Read more:
RBA rates decision coming tomorrow
Markets are almost certain the Reserve Bank of Australia will cut interest rates at its August meeting despite Australia facing an increasingly uncertain environment, AAP reports.
Benign quarterly inflation figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in July should convince the board to cut the cash rate in a two-day meeting that starts today.
Mortgage holders will be hoping lighting doesn’t strike twice after the central bank’s board voted in a 6-3 decision to leave rates on hold in July, despite markets pricing in a near-certain chance of a cut.
A decision on rates is expected around 2.30pm AEST on Tuesday.
Dave Sharma says calls to recognise Palestinian state only bolstering Hamas and making ceasefire harder
Liberal senator Dave Sharma, a former ambassador to Israel, said growing calls to recognise a Palestinian state have had the “unfortunate consequence” of bolstering Hamas’s strength. Sharma spoke to RN Breakfast after Netanyahu’s overnight remarks, saying:
I think what has happened as a result of many nations making these moves towards recognition is it’s strengthened Hamas’s international position. It’s made Hamas less likely to reach a ceasefire. It’s made Hamas be able to portray itself as making political progress because of its military actions. And that is actually pushing back the resolution of this conflict, which I think has been a deeply unfortunate consequence.
Sharma went on to say the war had been “tragic” for both Israel and Gaza, but noted Israel needed to do a “better job in ensuring that humanitarian food and medical assistance reaches the civilian population of Gaza”.
I do believe that has not been sufficient and there is significant food insecurity.
Former NZ PM Helen Clark says New Zealand and Australia starting to ‘lag behind’ on Gaza
Helen Clark, the former prime minister of New Zealand, said the recent statement from Australia and her own country condemning Israel’s actions in Gaza do not go far enough.
Clark spoke to RN Breakfast, saying Australia and New Zealand were both starting to “lag behind” other key partners when it came to the recognition of a Palestinian state. She said:
Look, Canada has condemned outright the latest Israeli security cabinet decision to reoccupy Gaza City, which is catastrophic, building on an already terrible situation. The most Australia and New Zealand have been able to stir themselves to do is to strongly reject the decision. …
The time is now. Recognition of the state of Palestine sends a very strong message to Israel that its attempts to dodge away from a two-state solution are simply not acceptable.
Australia strongly rejected Israel’s plans to expand Gaza campaign last week
For context – this is Australia’s position on Palestinian statehood. The foreign minister, Penny Wong, released a joint statement on Saturday alongside her counterparts in eight countries and that of the EU.
We are united in our commitment to the implementation of a negotiated two-state solution as the only way to guarantee that both Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side in peace, security, and dignity.
A political resolution based on a negotiated two-state solution requires the total demilitarisation of Hamas and its complete exclusion from any form of governance in the Gaza Strip, where the Palestinian Authority must have a central role.
The signatories strongly rejected Israel’s plans to occupy Gaza City, saying the effort would only “aggravate the catastrophic humanitarian situation, endanger the lives of the hostages, and further risk the mass displacement of civilians”.
Netanyahu decries ‘shameful’ debate over Palestinian state
Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Australia would take similar action If there were a catastrophe like Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack “right next to Melbourne or right next to Sydney”, issuing a forceful defence of the country’s plans to take military control of Gaza City. Netanyahu responded to questions about the upcoming efforts, which he described as a necessary step to end Israel’s war with Hamas:
The real reason that this conflict persists is not because of the absence of a Palestinian state, but the persistent Palestinian refusal to recognise a Jewish state. … I think the solution to this problem is that the Palestinians should have all the powers to govern themselves in the places where they live, and none of the powers to threaten Israel.
Netanyahu went on to lambaste Australia and European countries considering the recognition of a Palestinian state amid growing disapproval over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The Israel leader said other nations were “falling into a rabbit hole”, saying debate around such recognition was “shameful”.
To have European countries and Australia march into that, march into that rabbit hole, just like that, fall right into it. This canard is disappointing, and I think it’s actually shameful. But it’s not going to take, it’s not going to change our position.
He added:
I think we’re actually applying force judiciously, and they know it. They know what they would do if right next to Melbourne or right next to Sydney you had this horrific attacks. I think you would do it, at least what we’re doing, probably maybe not as efficiently and as precisely as we’re doing it.
Good morning
Hello, and happy Monday. It’s Nick Visser here to take you through the news as we get into another week. Here’s what’s on deck:
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said it is “shameful” and “disappointing” Australia and countries in Europe were marching into a “rabbit hole” when it came to recognition of a Palestinian state. Netanyahu said international calls to do so were not going to change Israel’s position, adding the country had “no choice but to proceed with its plan” and “finish the job”.
Many Victorians reported seeing a bright meteor light up the sky last night. Residents between Bendigo and Ballarat shared footage of the phenomenon as a fireball streaked across the night sky around 8pm on Sunday.
Stick with us.