Voters reject protests as Gaza war ignites domestic row

Australians have strongly rejected the use of public protests to take sides in the widening conflict in the Middle East, with 59 per cent of voters opposing the marches as thousands of protesters take to the streets ahead of the anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

The exclusive findings highlight the domestic divide over the war as 45 per cent of voters say it has made Australia less safe, up from 36 per cent who said the same in the weeks after the October 7 attack last year.

A majority of voters don’t want protests supporting either side of the conflict in the Middle East.Credit: Janie Barrett

In a sharp escalation of the political row over the war, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles accused Opposition Leader Peter Dutton of using the conflict for domestic advantage by seeking to create division and falsely claiming that Australia was at odds with its allies over the Middle East.

While Marles called the latest pro-Palestinian protests “deeply regrettable” because they marked the death of innocent Israeli civilians one year ago, Dutton demanded the government take stronger action to stop the demonstrations going ahead.

The new survey finds that only 8 per cent of Australians want authorities to allow protests and marches supporting Palestine, while only 7 per cent want similar events in favour of Israel, and another 26 per cent accept protests for either side of the war.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement that today was a time to reflect on the atrocities committed by Hamas one year ago and think of the hostages who remain in captivity, as well as their families.

“Since the atrocities of October 7, Jewish Australians have felt the cold shadows of anti-Semitism reaching into the present day – and as a nation we say never again,” Albanese said. “We unequivocally condemn all prejudice and hatred.”

“There is no place in Australia for discrimination against people of any faith,” he said.

State premiers and police chiefs warned against public demonstrations in favour of listed terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah at the Sunday protests, when pro-Palestinian activists drew more than 5000 people to events in Melbourne and about 10,000 in Sydney.

Israel stepped up its attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon last week, including airstrikes on Beirut, one year after Hamas attacked Israeli civilians after crossing from Gaza into southern Israel. The Hamas terrorists killed 1200 people in the October 7, 2023, attack and took 251 people hostage — at least 97 are still in captivity. The Israel Defence Forces have killed more than 41,000 people in Gaza over the past year, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.

The survey, conducted for this masthead by research firm Resolve Strategic, shows that 51 per cent of voters say Australia should not voice in-principle support for either Israel or Gaza.

There is stronger support for Israel among the remaining voters, however, with 23 per cent in favour of voicing in-principle support for Israel and 12 per cent in favour of Gaza, with another 15 per cent saying Australia should show support for both.

Australians also see a rise in racism since the conflict began a year ago, with 32 per cent saying there was an increase in antisemitism and 14 per cent saying there was more Islamophobia.

The Resolve Political Monitor surveyed 1606 eligible voters from Tuesday to Saturday to generate results with a margin of error of 2.4 per cent, reflecting a representative sample of Australians.

Resolve director Jim Reed said the results showed that the public marches on Sunday, as well as those planned for Monday, were unlikely to build support for the Palestinian cause.

“Most people aren’t interested in Australia getting physically involved in this foreign conflict,” he said.

“Where there is partisan support in areas like diplomacy and supply of equipment, it tends to favour Israel by a factor of two to one, and that’s a growing trend in our tracking.

“If the idea behind weekly marches for Palestine or Lebanon is to gain mainstream support for their cause, they are failing dismally.”

Dutton has accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of failing to offer enough support to Israel over the past year, while also calling on federal and state Labor leaders to take tougher action to stop the public demonstrations in favour of Palestinians.

“Israel is facing an existential threat of extinction. They are being attacked through the proxies of Iran. That’s what’s happening here,” the opposition leader said on Thursday.

In a provocative claim, Dutton said Albanese was at odds with major allies because United States President Joe Biden, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron had shown “absolute clarity” in supporting Israel.

But on Saturday, Macron called for a ban on shipping arms to Israel for use in Gaza, drawing a ferocious response from Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who called the French leader a “disgrace” and said Israel was fighting a “dark age of fanaticism” on behalf of all civilisations.

Marles said Dutton was lying to voters by claiming Australia was at odds with its allies.

“That is a patent lie, and it’s an intentional lie, and it’s a lie intended to create division within Australian politics and from there within Australian society,” he said.

Marles condemned the Hamas terror attack on Israel on October 7 and said he was “horrified” at the loss of innocent lives in Gaza and Lebanon, but he backed the right of Israel to take military action.

“We’ve talked about the fact that Israel clearly has a right to defend itself, and that does include a right to respond. But the manner in which it defends itself obviously matters,” he told the ABC’s Insiders program on Sunday morning.

Asked if Israel should be attacking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, Marles said again that Israel had a right to defend itself.

In his statement marking the anniversary of October 7, Albanese said that as the country mourned and reflected “we also re-affirm a fundamental principle of our shared humanity: every innocent life matters. We recognise the distress the conflict has caused here in Australia. Sorrow knows no boundaries and recognises no differences.”

“The number of civilians who have lost their lives is a devastating tragedy,” he said. “Today, we reflect on the truth of our shared humanity, of the hope that peace is possible, and the belief that it belongs to all people.”

The Resolve survey finds that 22 per cent of voters said Dutton and the Coalition had responded best to the Middle East conflict, while 18 per cent name Albanese and Labor. Another 6 per cent favour the Greens and their leader, Adam Bandt.

The question was: “Political parties and leaders have responded in different ways to the Middle East conflict and its effects in Australia. Of the largest parties, who do you think has responded best?” A clear majority, 55 per cent, said “none” or were unsure.

“The government’s problem on this and many other issues is that they are trying to govern while also attempting to please multiple audiences on their flanks,” said Reed.

“The Coalition and Greens have the luxury of greater clarity, and that’s hurting Labor.”

The Resolve Political Monitor found that 67 per cent of voters back programs to send medical and food aid to the Middle East to help both sides of the conflict, but there was no similar majority for other actions.

Asked if Australia should take refugees from Israel or Gaza, 48 per cent supported some form of help but 52 per cent were opposed to any action. Only 39 per cent supported giving advice and intelligence to either side.

Only 41 per cent supported decisions to allow marches and protests, comprising 26 per cent in favour of protests for either side, 8 per cent in favour of pro-Palestinian events and 7 per cent in favour of pro-Israeli events.

The question on preferred actions gave respondents several options, but the strong majority – 59 per cent – favoured “no action” and therefore did not want to allow marches and protests.

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