Greens call for ‘pathway to permanency’ for Gazans
Greens senator David Shoebridge called on the government to grant permanent residency to Gazans fleeing the war, as he encouraged protesters to ‘keep turning up’.
Greens senator David Shoebridge has called on the government to provide a “pathway to permanency” for Gazans fleeing the war, as he encouraged pro-Palestinian protesters to “keep turning up”.
Speaking in front of a large crowd of protesters at Sydney’s Hyde Park on Sunday, Senator Shoebridge launched an aggressive tirade against Labor and the Coalition, accusing them of having a “stranglehold” on politics while claiming there was a “toxic development” between the two parties.
It was the 53rd consecutive pro-Palestinian rally in Sydney, while more rallies were organised in Melbourne and Brisbane on Sunday.
“I think many people thought that after last week, and the attacks against the rally, and the vicious political attacks, that somehow Sydney would sort of lose its connection,” Senator Shoebridge told the crowd of hundreds.
He accused the government of “lying” and labeled both Labor and the Coalition as “war parties”.
“I call them the war parties, the two war parties that seem to have a stranglehold on our politics and that’s a stranglehold we need to break. We absolutely need to break it,” he said.
The Greens senator then accused the government of “obscene anti-Palestinian discrimination” and called for Australia to grant permanent residency to Gazans fleeing the war, despite widespread concerns about security.
“Every time the Coalition moves to the right, to yet another brutal, violent, unlawful position – they take on refugees or Palestine – Labor seems to be following them off to the right. And that’s a toxic development in our politics,” he said.
Senator Shoebridge condemned the government’s rejection of the majority of humanitarian visa applications from Palestinians. He compared this to Australia’s welcoming of Ukrainian refugees – with 95 per cent of Ukrainian visa applications being accepted, while seven out of ten applications from Gazans were rejected.
“Palestinians who have been able to come here to protect themselves and their family deserve a pathway to permanency. They deserve work rights and healthcare rights and a sense of protection from us. That’s what we deserve to give them. Let’s make that our commitment today.
“How can our government not see the obscene discrimination against the Palestinian people in that? It’s obscene anti-Palestinian discrimination, and it’s shameful from our government.”
The Greens senator previously came under fire for failing to condemn violent anti-war protesters who injured police and their horses during the Land Forces rally in September.
Instead, Senator Shoebridge launched a bizarre attack on Defence Minister Richard Marles, accusing him of spending billions of dollars of public money on weapons companies and then looking to take up “lucrative jobs with them afterwards”.
Hamas’s terror attack on October 7 last year killed 1200 people in Israel and about 250 people were taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
Since then, more than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and more than 97,000 injured, according to the UN, with an estimated 1.9 million people displaced.
Nearly one million people in southern Lebanon have had to flee their homes, according to the Lebanese prime minister.
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