Mark Dreyfus says future Labor government could keep Jerusalem embassy

Mark Dreyfus tells Q&A a future Labor government could keep an Australian embassy in Jerusalem if the Liberals decide to relocate.

Last night's panel on the ABC's Q&A.

Labor’s legal affairs spokesman Mark Dreyfus has said that a future Labor government could keep an Australian embassy in Jerusalem should it already have been built by the time they were elected.

Appearing on ABC’s Q&A last night, Mr Dreyfus was joined by Liberal MP Alex Hawke, New Yorker journalist Susan B. Glasser, Chief political correspondent of The Saturday Paper Karen Middleton, and Foreign Editor of The Australian Greg Sheridan, for a program that also included discussion on religious freedoms and a national integrity commission.

Mr Dreyfus said that he didn’t believe the government would action its talk of the embassy move, and that while he ‘very much doubted’ an embassy could be built before the next election, should it eventuate, it would “of course” be a possibility that a Labor government let it remain.

“We would have to review it if we win the election and came to government … of course it’s a possibility,” he said when asked if his government would reverse action taken to move the embassy.

.@sbg1 says Trump deliberately did not make reference to West Jerusalem #QandA pic.twitter.com/Vrldgi7OjI

— ABC Q&A (@QandA) November 19, 2018

“He’s (Prime Minister Scott Morrison) going to end up backing down, I’ve predicted. Of course we would like to see a state of Palestine … but it can’t be unilateral.

“I look forward to a time when Australia’s able to establish its embassy in West Jerusalem. But it can’t be done unilaterally. That’s the problem,” Mr Dreyfus said.

While saying that thought the Prime Minister’s decision to announce embassy plans was a “monumental blunder”, he criticised Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s comments that moving the embassy would lead to an increased risk of terrorism in Australia.

“Dr Mahathir has said a number of difficult things. He’s said a number of anti-Semitic things in the past which I’d condemn.”

Karen Middleton said moving the embassy was “not as simple for Australia … as it was for the US”.

“They already had diplomatic premises there. They put a different badge on it, we don’t. We have premises in Tel Aviv. It’s expensive to buy real estate. The estimate is it will cost about $200 million to move.

“It will cause potentially problems with the peace process. Australia doesn’t officially recognise Israel’s annexure of East Jerusalem. If we do this it would be like tacit recognition.”

Greg Sheridan rejected the idea that moving the embassy would be a tacit recognition of East Jerusalem as Israel, and said that “in principle, there is, in fact, no argument against” moving the embassy.

Greg Sheridan says there is no argument against moving the embassy to Jerusalem #QandA pic.twitter.com/PF7iW2fN7k

— ABC Q&A (@QandA) November 19, 2018

“In the late 1960s and early 1970s there were more than 20 nations including the Netherlands who had embassies in Jerusalem. The fact Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, for a time, supported locating the embassy in Jerusalem, you’re not going to tell me they were opposed to a two state solution … They certainly didn’t.”

Susan Glasser said that US President Donald Trump would be “delighted” if Australia followed the US in moving its embassy to Jerusalem.

“One of the things that’s been striking about this (the US’s) decision … is that many other countries have not followed behind.

“I imagine he would be eager for others to follow,” she said.

RELIGIOUS FREEDOMS

Greg Sheridan said the government made a “complete balls up” by commissioning the Ruddock review into religious freedom and keeping it secret, a move he said ‘begged for it to be leaked”.

“I did argue that there is going to be an assault on the freedom of religion, of Christians.

I’ve been associated personally with many Catholic schools and some other Christian schools. There have always been gay teachers and always gay kids. I’ve never heard of a speck of discrimination.”

Greg Sheridan says religious schools should have the right not to employ those who campaign against their ethos #QandA pic.twitter.com/Ew0zxiy2no

— ABC Q&A (@QandA) November 19, 2018

Greg Sheridan said that the debate around religious freedoms “cries out for a little bit of good will and common sense”.

“What religious schools want is the ability not to employ people who go out and campaign against their ethos.

“I cannot imagine any circumstance in which they would discriminate against a student. I can imagine them not wanting to hire someone who is campaigning against their ethos.

“I don’t even think it’s so much a right to sack someone, it’s hiring someone in the first place.

“I don’t think it’s homophobic for a Christian church to teach the traditional view of marriage, so long as they’re not actually making homophobic statements,” he said.

Susan Glasser said that the “culture wars” were “definitely even more vigorously combated” in the US.

“Once you go down this road of the culture wars there’s endless fodder and unfortunately in our politics I would say there would seem to be benefits in both parties at times in waging these culture wars,” she said.

NATIONAL INTEGRITY COMMISSION

Alex Hawke criticised the Bill Shorten’s announcement of an desire for bipartisan support in the establishment of an anti-corruption body, noting that it wasn’t a “good start” if the “media had the information before the Prime Minister”.

Mark Dreyfus called for the establishment of a nation integrity commission to respond to a “loss of confidence and trust in our system of government”.

Does the Coalition believe it can block the creation of a National Integrity Commission? #QandA pic.twitter.com/pTZokH1Tuf

— ABC Q&A (@QandA) November 19, 2018

“This is one way, not the only way, but one way in which we can go some distance towards restoring trust and confidence.

“I’d be very pleased if it found no corruption. Regrettably, not that I’m saying there’s a massive level of corruption in Australian government - I don’t think there is - but I don’t think there’s none either.”