Victorian Greens moved 52 motions critical of Israel and supportive of Palestine in a year
Not one of the Greens’ 52 anti-Israel motions was successful, but Liberals have criticised them for using the opportunity to spread ‘vile and hateful’ anti-Semitism.
The Victorian Greens have tried 52 times, at least once in every sitting week since October last year, to move motions critical of Israel and supportive of Palestine, analysis from the Victorian Liberal Party has shown.
The Greens moved 41 motions in the Legislative Council, and 11 in the Legislative Assembly, none of which obtained special leave for a formal debate.
Liberal MP David Davis said while none of the motions was successful, by seeking them the Greens were able “to spew their vile and hateful anti-Semitism every sitting week”.
The Greens’ motions were critical of Israel’s campaign in the Gaza Strip, which has killed 44,930 people, most of them civilians, since the October 7, 2023, terror attack, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
In that attack, Hamas militants killed more than 1200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped more than 250 hostages, nearly 100 of whom are still held captive.
The minor party also sought to support calls for “an immediate and permanent ceasefire”, to recognise the International Court of Justice’s prosecution of Israel, and to note “a growing humanitarian catastrophe is occurring in Palestine”.
“They’ve destroyed hospitals, homes and schools. They’ve manufactured a famine and denied access to drinking water and medical supplies,” said Victorian Greens MP for Richmond Gabrielle de Vietri in a statement in July following a motion calling on the Victorian government to end its relationship with Israel’s defence ministry.
Ms de Vietri has previously received bipartisan condemnation over her attendance at a protest against the Land Forces exposition in September.
Premier Jacinta Allan said she should “hand back the keys” to her office after the protest turned violent.
Samantha Ratnam, the Victorian Greens’ former leader and current candidate for the federal seat of Wills, sought leave 11 times to debate these motions.
The new leader of the party, Ellen Sandell, moved two of these motions in the past year. Katherine Copsey, member for Victoria’s Southern Metropolitan region, moved 11 motions, Western Victoria member Sarah Mansfield moved 10, Aiv Puglielli, the member for the North Eastern Metropolitan Region, sought leave eight times.
The Victorian Greens newest member, Anasina Gray-Barberio, who replaced Ms Ratnam, has already moved a motion since joining the parliament that sought, among other things, to note “civilians have been indiscriminately and disproportionately killed en masse in Gaza”.
Mr Davis was critical of the left-wing party, saying “Israel has every right to defend itself against terrorist organisations which attack it, but you will never hear the Victorian Greens say that, nor will you hear them say that Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas on 7 October, 2023, should be returned.”
The Greens have called for the hostages to be released, including recently in a statement to the Herald Sun in October that said the Greens “have held a longstanding and consistent position in line with international law and human rights that calls for release of the hostages”.
Mr Davis also claimed that the firebombing of the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne’s southeast was caused by “masked cowards clearly emboldened by the Greens’ political support for Hamas’ aim to completely destroy Israel”.
The Victorian Greens shared a statement, along with Jewish Greens, on the day of the terror attack at the synagogue that condemned the “horrific, violent attack in the strongest terms”.
“Anti-Semitism, like all forms of racism, is always unacceptable and has no place in our community. We will continue to call it out wherever we see it,” the statement continued.
The Victorian Greens were sought for comment but did not respond in time for publication.
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