Anthony Albanese refuses to endorse Penny Wong’s Gaza ceasefire call

The PM has refused to back Penny Wong’s call for a ceasefire in Israel’s war against Hamas.

Anthony Albanese in question time on Monday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Beach

Anthony Albanese has refused to back Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s call for a ceasefire in Israel’s war against Hamas, or her suggestion that the Netanyahu government could be breaking international law by attacking hospitals in the Gaza Strip.

The Prime Minister sought to use question time on Monday to clarify Senator Wong’s comments a day earlier, as the Labor MP for the Victorian seat of Macnamara warned Palestine supporters not to return to the electorate to “intimidate local people”.

Backbencher Josh Burns lashed the violent behaviour of protesters on Friday night, saying they came to suburban Caulfield, which has a large Jewish community, to “scream at them and spit at them and throw rocks at them”.

Mr Albanese also declared his “unequivocal” condemnation of the protests, amid concerns inside Labor that the party’s “mixed messages” on the war could cost it Macnamara at the next election.

The nation’s most senior Jewish leaders blasted the government on Sunday after Senator Wong told the ABC’s Insiders program that “we all want to take the next step towards a ceasefire”, while noting that Hamas was a terrorist group that continued to hold Israeli hostages.

Senator Wong also suggested in the interview Israel was committing war crimes by “the attacking of hospitals”. Jewish leaders said any ceasefire with Hamas would amount to a surrender, and cautioned the government against political narratives that sought to “demonise the state of Israel”.

Peter Dutton asked Mr Albanese whether Senator Wong’s suggestion on Sunday that Israel was “breaching international law and should undertake a ceasefire” reflected government policy.

Mr Albanese said the Foreign Minister’s comments were consistent with a parliamentary motion condemning the Hamas attacks, but declined to endorse her call for a ceasefire.

Later, in response to Greens leader Adam Bandt, who asked how many children needed to die before the government would demand a ceasefire, Mr Albanese said his government was seeking humanitarian pauses as a necessary first step.

“We have said that any step on a path to he told parliament. “Hamas is still bombing Israel, is still using human shields and is still holding more than 200 hostages.

“I’ve said really consistently that Hamas has contempt for international law, they’re a terrorist organisation.

“But Israel as a democratic ­nation has a responsibility to uphold international law and protect innocent lives and to protect civilians, including children.”

Senator Wong also sought to clarify her position under questioning by opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birming­ham, emphasising her caveats a day earlier that a ceasefire could not be “one-sided”, and that Hamas continued to attack Israel.

“We have said that humanitarian pauses are a necessary first step but we have stated that much more is needed, that includes the release of hostages, unconditionally, (and) that includes making sure that international law is upheld,” she told the Senate.

“What I would say to the senator is: please look at the totality of that interview because I did seek to, in what is a very difficult set of circumstances, set out a clear set of principles about how we are ­approaching this.”

Speaking after question time, Mr Burns told the ABC there was currently no prospect of a negotiated ceasefire. “Until Hamas release hostages and until they stop firing indiscriminately on Israeli citizens, the possibility of a ceasefire is not there. Of course I want to see this end … as quickly as possible, but we also have to realise what we are asking for is not going to prolong another cycle of ­violence.”

His comments came as one federal Labor MP expressed concerns that the party’s equivocal language on the conflict could lead Jewish voters in Macnamara to turn away from the party at the next election.

Pro-Palestine supporters at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

The MP said Senator Wong was “sending very mixed mes­sages” on Israel. Others in the party were actively trying to “muddy the waters” to appeal to their own constituencies, many of which have significant numbers of Muslim voters.

“It isn’t good, because people wonder whose side you’re on. ­People need to go back to what happened on October 7. Israel is doing what the US did after September 11. It’s doing what any country would do,” the MP said.

“The worry would be in Macnamara that people don’t trust us. That puts Josh (Burns) in a bad position.”

Former Labor MP Michael Danby said federal and state government inaction had helped create an “atmosphere of fear” among Australian Jews. Mr Danby, who was a prominent Jewish MP, called for authorities to enforce the law to stem anti-Semitism.

“Existing laws against incitement to violence are not being enforced. Worse, extremists feel empowered by this weakness of Australian federal and state authorities,” he said.

Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council executive director Colin Rubenstein said Jews were “reassured” by Mr Albanese’s clarification that Senator Wong’s comments were “consistent with the resolution passed in the house … which made it clear Australia continues to support Israel’s right to self-defence against Hamas”.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Palestine supporters protested on the lawns outside Parliament House, laying out white shrouds and teddy bears on a length of red cloth to represent children killed in Gaza. “Albanese you can’t hide, you’re committing genocide,” the protesters chanted.

Mr Bandt was cheered loudly as he called for Israel to end its attacks on Gaza.