Albanese and Wong made a big call instead. They chose to amplify Australian concern at the growing humanitarian disaster in Gaza. They made this call in great secrecy,which meant others in the government only learnt the news when they woke on Wednesday morning,but they had to act with great care.
Caucus members disagree about the outcome because some lean to the Israeli view while others are acutely aware of the Palestinian deaths. This makes it easy for Labor’s conservative critics in the media to play up a caucus split.
One essential point about the “divided Labor” narrative is that the caucus reflects the community. It has Jewish members such as Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus and Melbourne backbencher Josh Burns. It has Muslim members such as Industry Minister Ed Husic and Childhood Education Minister Anne Aly.
The Liberals,with a more homogenous party room,side with Israel. The Greens,with a history in progressive politics,side with Palestine. This makes Labor the only major party that seeks to reconcile competing views on an incendiary foreign policy question that has defied resolution for decades.
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Wong describes the latest vote as “consistent” with government policy,rather than marking a sudden break. She is right in the sense that shecalled for “steps towards a ceasefire” on November 12 and this new resolution demands an immediate ceasefire.
In truth,however,there has been a shift. Australia abstained on a call for a ceasefire at the UN on October 28 because the resolution did not condemn Hamas for itsterror attacks on Israel on October 7. Australia voted in favour of the latest resolution even though the wording does not condemn the October 7 attacks either.