Australia’s recognition of Palestine is a matter of “when, not if”, the treasurer says, as another country joined the queue to formally acknowledge its statehood.
Overnight, Canada followed the UK and France in announcing its plan to recognise Palestine as a state at a UN General Assembly meeting in September.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said recognition will be contingent on the demilitarisation and exclusion of Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip and is deemed a terrorist organisation by Australia.
The Labor federal government views Palestinian statehood as an important step toward a two-state solution and as the “best pathway out of this enduring cycle of violence”, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said.
“From an Australian point of view, recognition of the state of Palestine is a matter of when, not if,” he told Sky News on Thursday.
“This progress, this momentum that we’re seeing, is welcome but it’s also conditional … we need to make sure that there’s no role for Hamas in any future leadership.”
Despite indications Australia will also follow suit, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has declined to set a timeline for when that will take place.
Overnight, Mr Albanese held talks with his UK counterpart Keir Starmer on the Middle East, and the pair discussed support for a two-state solution.
Mr Albanese reiterated Australia’s “long-standing and strong support for a two-state solution”, and cited the country’s aid contribuutions.
The pair also spoke about the UK’s framework for recognising Palestine as a state.
“The leaders agreed on the importance of using the international momentum to secure a ceasefire, the release of all hostages and the acceleration of aid, as well as ensuring Hamas did not play a role in a future state,” according to a readout of the talks.
Opposition frontbencher James Paterson said he did not support the “premature” recognition of a Palestinian state before the conclusion of a peace process that establishes the two-state principle, which would include Israel.
“I don’t think we should decide Australia’s foreign policy according to some artificial measure of momentum,” he told Sky News.
“We should decide if it’s consistent with our national interest and the principles which the Australian government has upheld on a bipartisan basis for decades, which is that we want two states.”
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said the federal government must formally recognise Palestine.
“It’s time to be recognising the state of Palestine …in line with comparable countries across the world,” she told Sky News.
Last week, France became the first G7 nation to announce it would recognise Palestine, and was soon followed by the UK and Canada.
The G7 group of major industrialised nations includes France, the US, the UK, Italy, Germany, Canada and Japan.