Cabinet minister Ed Husic’s invoking of “collective punishment” in Gaza – a war crime under international law – exposes deepening cracks inside the Albanese government over the escalating Israel-Palestine conflict.
Husic’s intervention on Thursday came three days after the Industry Minister delivered a balanced speech in support of the government’s motion condemning Hamas and endorsing Israel’s “inherent right to defend itself”.
The Coalition moved immediately to attack remarks by Husic and Early Childhood Education Minister Anne Aly, who are Muslim and have condemned the killing of all innocent civilians, as “out of step” with government policy.
The longer the Israel-Hamas war rages, spurred on by Iran and Hezbollah, the harder it will be for Anthony Albanese to maintain unity across Labor’s divided ranks.
Israel, which is in the fog of war and facing disinformation campaigns and international pressure, has no option other than to dismantle Hamas, launch rescue operations for more than 200 people taken hostage in Gaza and deliver justice for 1400 Israelis, mostly civilians, slaughtered by terrorists.
Husic, a member of the NSW Right faction who admires former NSW premier and fervent pro-Palestine supporter Bob Carr, says he feels “very strongly that Palestinians are being collectively punished … for Hamas’ barbarism”.
The western Sydney MP also lined-up with the Greens in criticising the lighting up of national landmarks in Israeli colours rather than the “red, black, white and green” of Palestine.
Aly, an Egyptian-born migrant recognised as an expert in counter-terrorism and deradicalisation, endorsed Mr Husic’s collective punishment claim and said the destruction of the Gaza hospital should “possibly” be investigated as a war crime.
“It’s difficult to argue that those children are Hamas and it’s difficult to argue that what is currently occurring is not a form of collective punishment,” Aly said.
The collective punishment position aligns Husic and Aly with the Greens, the United Nations, Amnesty International and other human rights groups.
Greens leader Adam Bandt on Thursday morning joined colleagues Mehreen Faruqi, Jordon Steele-John and Max Chandler-Mather at a pro-Palestine rally outside Parliament House. The Greens’ hardline pro-Palestine position poses political problems for Albanese on his Left flank.
Labor MP Maria Vamvakinou, a veteran Victorian left-winger, joined the Greens at the protest and demanded Israel “halt its invasion of Gaza”. Speaking in the Senate on Tuesday, Afghan-born Western Australia Labor senator Fatima Payman attacked the “killing of innocent civilians of Palestine” and declared that Israel’s right to defend itself must not come at the cost of the “annihilation of Palestinian civilians”.
With Hamas using civilians as human shields and forcing locals and non-military facilities to house munitions and command posts, the IDF is fighting an enemy strategically entrenched among civilians across a tiny strip of land.
NDIS Minister Bill Shorten, a Victorian Right-Faction member and one of Labor’s strongest supporters of Israel alongside Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, said “Israel does have a right to defend itself”.
“I think that some in the Greens political party are out of step with the Australian people, or at least the mainstream,” Shorten said.
“Israel does have a right to defend itself. Remember what’s triggered this latest incredible round of instability and violence, it was thousands of Hamas terrorists crossing the border, kidnapping, murdering, killing.
“And I don’t understand why some people seem to always struggle with the idea that Israel has a right to exist behind safe borders. What Hamas want is different to ordinary Palestinians. Hamas use the ordinary Palestinian citizens effectively as human shields. The whole thing is a terrible and growing disaster of incredible tragedy.”
Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil expressed admiration for Husic as the “first Muslim Australian ever to sit around a Cabinet table”.
“Like many other Muslim Australians around our country, he is feeling what is going on in this region incredibly deeply. How could he not? With hundreds of people who have just lost their lives in Gaza, sitting in a hospital? It is absolutely, categorically something that should never happen,” O’Neil said.
Senior Coalition sources say they will seize on divisions inside Labor and highlight the party’s “flimsy” national security credentials. Opposition frontbencher Jane Hume said Husic was out of step with the government position and should be “admonished” by Albanese.
The split inside Labor, which was always going to emerge, comes ahead of Albanese’s visit next week to Washington and a White House state dinner hosted by Joe Biden. Biden will have only just returned from the Middle East, where US officials are scrambling to avoid a wider conflict.
Albanese is under extreme pressure to shield Australia from economic shocks and security risks at a time of global upheaval. The Prime Minister, who over the next month will travel to Washington, Beijing, Cook Islands and San Francisco, must project strength and unity.
Any weakening of the government’s position or inconsistency in its messaging will leave Albanese exposed on multiple fronts.
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