Liberals urge Anthony Albanese to cut funds to UNRWA
Anthony Albanese has been urged by leading Liberals to withdraw taxpayer funding from the UN relief agency where multiple staff members allegedly played a role in the October 7 terrorist attacks in Israel.
Anthony Albanese has been urged by leading Liberals to withdraw taxpayer funding from the UN relief agency where multiple staff members allegedly played a role in the October 7 terrorist attacks in Israel last year.
Jewish Liberal MP Julian Leeser, senator for NSW and former ambassador to Israel Dave Sharma and Liberal candidate for Wentworth Ro Knox urged the Prime Minister in a letter on Thursday to pull Australian funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency.
This comes after an investigation by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services into UNRWA, the chief aid organisation in the Gaza Strip, following allegations that at least a dozen staff members were involved in the October 7 terrorist attacks.
The investigation found that nine employees of the UN agency “may have been” involved in the October 7 attacks.
“The public can have no confidence that ongoing Australian financial support to UNRWA will not once again be misused and misappropriated to support the activities of Hamas, a proscribed terrorist organisation,” the letter from Mr Leeser, Senator Sharma and Ms Knox reads.
“We urge you to halt all financial contributions to UNRWA until such time as substantial reforms are implemented that provide greater safeguards and accountability in the use of UNRWA funds than currently exist.”
The trio suggested humanitarian relief for war-torn Gaza should instead be directed to agencies such as the World Food Program and the Red Cross.
The Albanese government earlier this year suspended its $6m funding to UNRWA for a couple of months following the initial allegations and reinstated it in March as part of a broader package for the region.
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