Queensland Labor demands prosecution of Australians in Israel Defence Forces
Queensland Labor members have voted to demand Anthony Albanese’s government warn Australian citizens and dual-nationals serving in Israeli forces that they risk war crimes prosecutions.
Queensland Labor members have overwhelmingly voted for Anthony Albanese’s government to immediately issue “explicit legal warnings” to Australian citizens and dual-nationals serving in the Israel Defence Forces to warn them they could be criminally tried for war crimes under domestic and international law.
Passed almost unanimously at the Labor conference in Brisbane on Sunday and backed by every Queensland local policy conference, the resolution called on the Albanese government to urgently “ensure investigations and prosecutions (of Australian IDF members) are mandatory where credible allegations of complicity in international crimes exist”.
The resolution – moved by Labor Friends of Palestine convener Wendy Turner – condemned “Israel’s deliberate blockade of essential supplies to Gaza, the brutal militarisation of aid delivery, and the repression of (United Nations Relief and Works Agency) efforts across the occupied Palestinian territories”.
Dozens of Labor members stood holding “Free Palestine” signs as Ms Turner spoke, calling for the government to introduce a “comprehensive two-way arms embargo on Israel” and an “urgent review” of all relations with Israel to ensure that no Australian individual or entity was “providing aid or assistance to Israel in the commission of the unlawful acts of settlement, occupation and genocide”.
“One of the other big important things is the fact we’ve got probably over 1000 Australian citizens … serving in the IDF, and we need to get something done about that,” Ms Turner said.
The resolution referenced former Labor minister Ed Husic’s intervention in September when he called for the Albanese government to send “a clear statement” to Australians about the risks of participating in IDF actions in Gaza and being “placed in a position where they witness, abet or participate in what will likely be deemed a genocide”.
Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who reportedly shut down Mr Husic’s calls, did not respond to questions from The Australian about the Queensland Labor resolution.
A spokesperson for the federal Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said: “All Australians, including those serving in armed conflicts, need to abide by applicable Australian laws.”
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said it was “difficult to imagine an issue of less relevance to Queenslanders than this latest anti-Israel foray”.
“There are activists across political and social movements who remain so fixated on Israel that they will use whatever platform they are given to indulge ideological obsessions and to recruit others to their hatred,” he said.
“These activists cannot be moderated or bargained with. If they are allowed to pursue their agenda, they will not only contribute to societal disharmony through the importation of foreign conflict, they will relegate their institutions to irrelevance.”
United Workers Union national political director Gary Bullock and state Labor frontbencher Mark Bailey were among ALP members who stood in support of the Left faction resolution.
Earlier, Labor Right faction delegates walked out of the conference to protest against an Electrical Trades Union motion backing the CFMEU to return to “democratic control as soon as possible” following the Labor-ordered administration.
ETU state secretary Peter Ong said the CFMEU administration set a dangerous precedent of forced administrations that could be “weaponised against all unions, and it’s something that all union leaders should be concerned about”.
Mr Ong’s motion was dramatically watered down from an original version revealed by The Australian this week, which called for the administration legislation to be repealed as soon as possible.
It comes as Australian Workers Union state secretary Stacey Schinnerl – a key figure in the Right – prepares to give evidence to the CFMEU commission of inquiry in Brisbane this week.
Ms Schinnerl is expected to detail the abuse she and other AWU members had been subjected to by some CFMEU leaders and officials.
A Labor Right spokesman said the faction walked out during the motion in “solidarity with the AWU, who have been facing targeted violence from some CFMEU officials for years”.
“We shouldn’t even be talking about this – a commission of inquiry is under way and more details of violence are being revealed by the day,” the Right spokesman said.
“It is a stunning lapse of judgment by the Left to allow this motion to get to the conference floor when the behaviour of the CFMEU has been so far below community expectation for so long.”
The first week of the commission of inquiry heard the CFMEU in Queensland had waged a campaign of violence in the state, revelled in their reputation as “outlaws” and had orchestrated a potentially “fraudulent” scheme involving alleged misuse of $50m in members’ fees.
Queensland Council of Unions general secretary Jacqueline King, Civil Contractors Federation Queensland chief executive Damien Long and Workplace Health and Safety Queensland executive director of compliance and field services Sarina Wise are also scheduled to give evidence this week.
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