Penny Wong Says Australia Will Keep Recognising Palestinian Statehood Even If Conditions Are Not Met

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said during a Senate exchange that Australia’s recognition of a State of Palestine would continue even if the Palestinians continued to support terrorism or refused to hold elections, according to a News24 opinion piece by James Macpherson. The column describes the Albanese Government’s position as one that will continue to recognise the State of Palestine under those circumstances.

In the same exchange, a senator asked whether there were any circumstances under which the government would revoke recognition of Palestinian statehood. The column does not name the senator who asked the question. Liberal Senator James Paterson, the column reports, pressed Wong on what it described as an obvious contradiction, namely whether the government would continue to recognise Palestine regardless of whether it held free and fair elections.

Wong responded, as quoted in the column: “Well, we have recognised the State of Palestine and that is a contribution to peace in the Middle East because there is no peace.”

Macpherson, writing as a commentator, argues that the earlier conditions for recognition had become “little more than decorative bunting” and that free and fair elections were “actually a suggestion, rather than a pre-condition.” These characterisations are the columnist’s own views and are not statements by the government.

The column recalls that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, in August of the previous year, announced that Australia would recognise the right of the Palestinian people to a state of their own, “predicated on the commitments Australia has received from the Palestinian Authority.” The column presents those commitments as follows. The Palestinian Authority was required to affirm Israel’s right to exist and commit to peaceful coexistence. Albanese said a future Palestinian state should be demilitarised so it could not threaten Israel’s security. Hamas was to have no role in the governance of Palestine and was required to relinquish control of Gaza and surrender its weapons. The Palestinian Authority also committed to holding democratic elections, with reforms intended to establish legitimate and accountable government.

Source: Read the original report