As Penny said, this resolution is the product of many more people than Penny and myself. I want to specifically acknowledge the consultation with Richard Marles and long standing work of Wendy Turner. In previous conferences we have had resolutions that went forever. Every possible view and recent event would find its way into the…
We denounce the occupation of Palestine by Israel, and will mobilise for a just and sustainable peace between Israel and Palestine, in accordance with the legitimacy of international law and in particular Resolutions 242 and 338 of the UN Security Council. We call for: An end to the construction of illegal Israeli settlements and removal…
I would like to start by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and pay my respects to their elders past and present. “The Australian Jewish community has been a powerhouse of great Australians”. In 1853 Louis Monash and his wife Bertha Manasse made the momentous decision to emigrate from Prussia…
“Social democratic parties have a problem selling opportunity and hope, while conservatives easily sell fear and trepidation.” I am paraphrasing two comments delivered at a recent Australian Labor International dinner hosted by Australian Labor’s Opposition Minister for Foreign Affairs, the remarkable Penny Wong, and current leader of the Israel Labor Party, and soon to be…
I wish to honour the memory of William Cooper both as a member of the Jewish community and a long-time labour movement historian and activist. The dispossession of Australia’s Aboriginal population was little remarked upon by the early labour movement, even if one of the co-founders of The Australian Workers’ Union (AWU), William Guthrie Spence,…
Last month I went on a mission to Australia to develop and deepen the ongoing dialogue between the Israeli Labor Party and its sister Social Democratic Party, the Australian Labor Party. I travelled for a week between Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne, and during the trip I met Labor and other lawmakers, party officials and trade…
Australia’s support for Israel is deep and enduring. It is founded in our shared values as democratic nations and is a bond of true friendship. It is a friendship that goes back to the founding of modern Israel, when Labor’s Doc Evatt helped introduce UN resolution 181, and to when, under Labor Prime Minister Ben…
On behalf of the opposition, I rise to support this condolence motion, to express Labor’s deep sadness at the passing of Shimon Peres, and to join with the government in expressing, as Senator Brandis has, our sadness at his passing. Shimon Peres was a former President and Prime Minister of Israel and a former leader…
We would like to extend you an invitation to join the AILD Labor Innovation Mission to Israel And Palestine 4-8 December 2016. Israel is second only to Silicon Valley in the number of startups and successful listings of startup companies. Our Mission is designed to find answers to how this is so and bring these…
