Coalition frontbencher Tim Wilson has chided the government for failing to consult with the opposition before breaking with a long-held bipartisan position to recognise Palestinian statehood next month, suggesting instead to align with the United States.<\/p>\n
After much anticipation the prime minister earlier this week announced that Australia would join with France, the United Kingdom and Canada to recognise a Palestinian state at the United Nations meeting in September<\/a>.<\/p>\n The move was immediately rejected by the Coalition which argued it would embolden Hamas<\/a>, the listed terror organisation in control of the Gaza Strip, and vowed to reverse recognition if elected in three years’ time<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mr Wilson \u2014 who was re-elected at this year’s election and immediately elevated to the frontbench as the shadow minister for industrial relations, employment and small business \u2014 told ABC’s Insiders on Sunday that “there wasn’t engagement” with the opposition before the government’s announcement.<\/p>\n Coalition vows to revoke Australia’s recognition of a Palestinian state<\/a><\/p>\n Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has pledged to reverse recognition of a Palestinian state a day after the government’s much-anticipated announcement, as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese accused the Israeli leader of being “in denial”.<\/p>\n “I would have thought that actually having an engagement with the opposition for a lasting policy position from the Australian government would be a sensible way forward,” he said.<\/p>\n “They’ve chosen not to take that path.”<\/p>\n Both sides of Australian politics support a two-state solution in the Middle East, meaning an Israeli state and a Palestinian state existing side-by-side.<\/p>\n But the Coalition believes that Palestinian recognition, which would ultimately be required for that outcome, should only occur at the end of a negotiated peace process.<\/p>\n That process would have to include the return of Israeli hostages and the removal of Hamas, Mr Wilson said, wearing a yellow ribbon pin that signifies support for the hostages.<\/p>\n “We’ve set pre-conditions and we’ve been very public about that. Up until last Monday that was also the position of the government,” he said.<\/p>\n “Now, what the government has done is essentially throw that into turmoil by making a commitment to recognise a Palestinian state, but not being able to then say if those preconditions are going to be met, that they’re going to back down.”<\/p>\n The government has said its decision to recognise Palestinian statehood now after more than seven decades was part of a “coordinated global effort” to build momentum towards a two-state solution and put an end to the conflict.<\/p>\n Announcing the plan, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it was predicated on commitments given by the Palestinian Authority, which controls the West Bank, that it would reform governance, demilitarise and hold general elections.<\/p>\n He also pointed to the authority’s recognition of Israel’s right to exist and stressed that Hamas could have no role in a future state.<\/p>\n Work with US on Palestine<\/p>\n Mr Wilson did not say what the Coalition believed the government should do instead to encourage an end to the war in Gaza, stating only that “Australia is very limited in what it can do apart from exercise its voice internationally”.<\/p>\n He also stressed that the United States and Israel needed to be part of any resolution, suggesting the decision to move on recognition now had limited Australia’s influence over allies’ actions.<\/p>\n “What we’ve [the opposition] sought to do is to take a position that works with countries like the United States because they need to be part of the resolution to a long-lasting solution,” he said.<\/p>\n “What they [the government] have done is written a blank cheque, very clearly, to those who are sponsoring terror.”<\/p>\n