Sunshine Coast MP Andrew Wallace slams Penny Wong for ignoring October 7 massacre sites in Israel

An MP who visited Israeli massacre sites in the aftermath of the Hamas-led terrorist attack has slammed Foreign Minister Penny Wong as “disgraceful” and taken aim at her “wilful blindness”.

Andrew Wallace, Joel Burnie, Michelle Ananda-Rajah, Zoe McKenzie, Simon Birmingham, David Fawcett and Josh Burns during a bipartisan trip to Israel after the attack.

A Sunshine Coast MP who visited Israeli massacre sites in the aftermath of the Hamas-led terrorist attack has slammed Foreign Minister Penny Wong for not stopping in at the destroyed areas during her trip to the region.

Federal Member for Fisher Andrew Wallace was part of a parliamentary delegation that visited massacre sites in southern Israel in early December, following an invasion by Hamas on October 7, 2023.

The terrorist attack resulted in the death of at least 1100 Israeli citizens and was the deadliest day for Jewish people since the Holocaust.

After seeing first-hand the aftermath of the massacre, the Deputy Chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee slammed the Foreign Minister for her “wilful blindness”.

“For Penny Wong to have waited this long from October 7 to go to Israel is disgraceful,” Mr Wallace said.

“Her decision not to attend the sites of the massacres just beggars belief, it’s wilful blindness.

“It makes me angry, unless she’s been to the sites and seen and smelt what I’ve seen and smelled and heard then, you know, she will never have a proper appreciation of why we are where we are.”

Federal Member for Fisher Andrew Wallace MP visiting the sites of the Israeli massacre.

Mr Wallace said Senator Wong is doing a “disservice” to the Israeli people that were murdered by not visiting the sites.

“I can’t understand why Australia’s Foreign Minister would be travelling to the Middle East to look at ways of bringing war to a conclusion, without visiting the site where it started?,” he said.

“You can only get a true appreciation of the position that Israel was put in if you visit where it was attacked on October 7.

A building that was bombarded in the Israeli massacre on October 7, 2023. Picture: Andrew Wallace MP

“If you don’t have that first-hand experience, then she’s walking into these discussions blindfolded and that blindfold will have been placed on her by herself.

“I think she’s doing a disservice to the 1200 people who were slaughtered, their families, friends and the 200 hostages. Why would she not go to the sites of the massacres?”

Grenade shrapnel throughout a home in the Kfar Aza kibbutz near the Gaza border. Picture: Andrew Wallace MP

Mr Wallace hopes that with enough pressure Senator Wong will “change her mind”.

“I’m hoping that we can collectively put as much pressure on her over here, that she will change her mind and when she has an opportunity will visit the sites,” he added.

“I see the Prime Minister is backing away from supporting Penny Wong in her decision not to visit the sites.

“This has been a monumental stuff up from a foreign policy perspective.”

Shoes that were taken from the site of the Nova dance music festival massacre in Israel. Picture: Andrew Wallace MP

Over a month after visiting the massacre sites, Mr Wallace said he is still processing what he saw.

“I’m still unpacking, there are a couple of things that will stay with me for a long time, if not forever,” he said.

“We got to meet with families of the hostages, we toured a town called Sderot in southern Israel, which had been attacked.

“We got to actually go down to one of the kibbutz that was the site of the attack, which is only about a kilometre from the Gaza border and it was very graphic.

“To be honest, it was very disturbing.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese defended Senator Wong’s itinerary, saying she was not the first foreign minister not to visit the sites.

“The fact is that a range of foreign ministers, including the foreign minister of Canada and other countries did not visit the kibbutzes (sic) when they visited Israel,” Mr Albanese said.

“Penny Wong is visiting Israel to speak to family and friends of the hostages – both those people who have been released, but also the families who quite rightly want their loved ones released.

“Australia reiterates our call for every single hostage to be released, unconditionally and immediately. That is our position. It is a clear and unequivocal position that we have had from day one.”

Originally published as Sunshine Coast MP Andrew Wallace slams Penny Wong for ignoring October 7 massacre sites in Israel