‘Enough is enough’: Anthony Albanese, Peter Dutton unite to condemn Greens

Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton join to condemn and politically isolate the Greens, accusing the minor party of exploiting the conflict in Gaza to fuel division and undermine social cohesion.

Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton have united to condemn and politically isolate the Greens, led by Adam Bandt, ­accusing the minor party of ­exploiting the unfolding conflict in Gaza.

Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton have united to condemn and politically isolate the Greens, ­accusing the minor party of ­exploiting the unfolding conflict in Gaza to fuel division and undermine social cohesion amid growing concerns for the safety of MPs and their staff.

The Prime Minister on Wednesday took aim at pro-Palestine supporters targeting the electorate offices of MPs – including in his own inner-Sydney electorate of Grayndler – warning they were harming their own cause in ­remarks that ignited one of the most emotive question time ­debates of the 47th parliament.

Speaking in the lower house, Mr Albanese said everyday Australians were being denied access to democracy and claimed the demonstrators had been whipped-up by Greens MPs who had “consciously and deliberately spread” misinformation about the government’s position on the war.

“Enough is enough,” the Prime Minister declared. “All of us have a responsibility to prevent conflict in the Middle East from being used as a platform for prejudice here at home. There is no place or anti-Semitism, prejudice of any sort, ­Islamophobia, in our communities, at our universities or outside of electoral offices.

“Our staff do work to provide assistance to people dealing with Medicare, social security, ­migration and other issues. They deserve respect. Not abuse, not ­assault, not attacks on the office that cost taxpayers money.”

He said it was “unacceptable that misinformation is being ­consciously and deliberately spread by some Greens senators and MPs, who have engaged in this in demonstrations outside ­offices and online”.

“That includes knowingly misrepresenting motions that are moved in this parliament,” he said.

Peter Dutton supported the Prime Minister’s comments and declared there was a ­“bipartisan position in the chamber” and “we speak with one voice when we condemn acts of violence”.

“We’re seeing now the offices of elected members of parliament being targeted with red paint, with vile messages of hate and discrimination and anti-Semitism, and it should be condemned,” the Opposition Leader said. “And the Greens should condemn it instead of condoning it.

“After October 7, when 1200 people were slaughtered by a terrorist organisation, to this day, people are still held in a tunnel ­network, women and children are still held by the terrorist organisation. But as we know, the Greens political party didn’t wait for ­advice or evidence or a security briefing; they were out there condemning the Israelis immediately and without hesitation.”

Mr Dutton said the world “should stand together to condemn the actions of anti-­Semitism”. “We stand as one in this chamber – or we should stand as one – to make sure that we condemn the unacceptable levels of anti-Semitism that we see playing out on our streets. It has no place, and we will take every action we need, as a chamber, to make sure that we condemn those acts of anti-Semitism in our country.

“The Greens political party today is properly and rightly condemned”.

Greens leader Adam Bandt unsuccessfully attempted to move a motion calling for Australia to end all direct and indirect trade of ­military equipment with Israel, ­accusing the government of “complicity in the unfolding genocide”.

But he rejected any claims of anti-Semitism, telling parliament the House was “united in condemning anti-Semitism and condemning Islamophobia”. He argued the minor party also condemned “the invasion of Gaza”.

“I will not be lectured to about peace and nonviolence by people who back the invasion of Gaza,” Mr Bandt said. “Children are dying because the Israeli army has engineered a famine and instead of talking about the victims, the Prime Minister wants to make it about himself.”

Mr Bandt was shut down in a procedural motion, which was lost by 92 votes to five, with his own motion then going on to be defeated with only the four Greens supporting it.

The united showing against the Greens came as Tasmanian Liberal MP Bridget Archer and more than a dozen crossbenchers from both houses signed a letter to Mr Albanese warning the independence of the International Criminal Court was being undermined.

“We are disturbed by and strongly condemn any threats or efforts to undermine the independence and impartiality of the ICC,” the letter said. “It is imperative that the Australian government takes decisive action to both publicly support the ICC’s work as well as strongly denounce any attempts to pressure the Office of the Prosecutor into withdrawing applications for arrest warrants.”

All teals except for Allegra Spender – who holds the eastern Sydney seat of Wentworth, home to the nation’s largest Jewish community – signed the letter, which said Australia had “an obligation to fully co-operate with the ICC in its investigation and prosecution of crimes under its mandate, including the investigation into the situation in the state of Palestine”.

Signatories included Kylea Tink, Sophie Scamps, Andrew Wilkie, Zoe Daniel, Helen Haines, Zali Steggall, Lidia Thorpe and all Greens MPs.

The letter was a veiled swipe at Mr Dutton who has held out the prospect of cutting ties with the ICC after its chief prosecutor sought arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant along with three leaders of Hamas. Mr Dutton has called on the government to stand with Israel and “put pressure on the ICC to make sure that they reverse this terrible decision”,.

While Mr Albanese’s Marrickville office has not been used since January because of fears for the safety of staff posed by pro-Palestinian demonstrations, Greens deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi on Wednesday backed the protesters.

Peter Dutton on Wednesday. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“The Prime Minister knows that his community, the community in his electorate, feels betrayed,” Senator Faruqi said. “They feel disappointed and they feel angry, and they are peacefully protesting outside his office. But he hasn’t once in the last month, not once shown the courtesy and the decency to come and speak to the community of his electorate to listen to their concerns.”

Mr Albanese called for the blockades and attacks on the offices of MPs to end, saying the protests were “anti-democratic by their very nature, because they stop people participating in our democratic process”.

Security around Mr Albanese and other MPs has been tightened since the Hamas terror attacks on Israel last October. Parliamentarians have requested a security briefing from the AFP and ASIO and The Australian understands there was formal advice Islamist extremists and political activists were appearing together at university campus protests around the nation, outside ministerial offices and at public demonstrations.

In some of his strongest comments to date on the challenges to social cohesion fuelled by the Middle East conflict, Mr Albanese said he had supported justice for Palestinians “my whole life and still do”.

But he argued that “denying people the right to seek out assistance achieves nothing – and, tragically, it undermines the cause the protest is purporting to advance”.

He added that parliamentarians had a “responsibility to lower temperature, not to fuel division.”

Mr Albanese said the government supported US President Joe Biden’s ceasefire proposal and called for hostages to be released and civilians to be protected.

Mr Dutton said rising anti-Semitism requiring armed guards outside daycare centres with Jewish children had “no place in the country whatsoever”.

“Those who seek for their own political purposes and their own political advancement to pour fuel on this fire, deserve the condemnation of this chamber,” he said.