Saturday, November 2, 2024

‘You are collaborating’: Wong attacks Greens over violence

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Greens leader Adam Bandt said the party rejected any violence last week, adding: “There is a deep level of disappointment and frustration in the community over Labor’s continued backing of the invasion.

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“The Greens support peaceful protest and agree with the calls from today’s protest organisers that any action shouldn’t involve breakage or property damage.”

The electorate offices of senior Victorian MPs Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, Immigration Minister Andrew Giles and NDIS Minister Bill Shorten were vandalised in a co-ordinated action that began about 4am on Friday, before planned protests throughout the day.

Wong said it would damage Australia’s national interest to withdraw from the International Criminal Court, a move Dutton said the government should consider after the court’s top prosecutor requested an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for allegedly committing war crimes during the war in Gaza.

Wong told Senate estimates hearings in Canberra that Australia must be consistent in promoting a rules-based international order in the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific.

“We do nothing to help make it happen by recklessly threatening to pull out of the bodies that uphold international law,” she said.

“That kind of talk might sound tough, but it undermines Australia’s core security interests.

“For example, we cannot insist China abides by international legal decisions in the South China Sea but threaten to pull out of the International Criminal Court.

“We do nothing to shape the kind of region Australia needs by picking fights, blowing up relationships, or beating the drums of war.”

Wong urged the Israeli government and listed terror group Hamas to agree to a ceasefire deal outlined by US President Joe Biden last week, saying the government supported its terms.

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“The death and destruction is horrific,” Wong said of the situation in Gaza. “This human suffering is unacceptable.”

Biden last week said the first phase of the proposed deal would last for six weeks and would include a “full and complete ceasefire”, a withdrawal of Israeli forces from all populated areas of Gaza and the release of a number of hostages, including women, the elderly and the wounded, in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

The second phase would include the release of all remaining living hostages, including male soldiers, with Israeli forces withdrawing from Gaza.

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