Speaker 1: I'm Ruby Jones and you're listening to seven am. Prime
Speaker 1: Minister Anthony Albanezi is in New York for the UN
Speaker 1: General Assembly, where Australia has formally recognized the State of Palestine,
Speaker 1: a step that more than one hundred and fifty UN
Speaker 1: member states have now taken. The move is part of
Speaker 1: what Australia calls a coordinated international effort to build new
Speaker 1: momentum for the two state solution, but with no active
Speaker 1: peace process, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Ettnia, who vowing to
Speaker 1: fight calls for Palestinian statehood, and the US attempting to
Speaker 1: scuttle the process. How much difference will recognition make? Today
Speaker 1: Press Gallery veteran pauporn Jorno on whether Australia and others
Speaker 1: can shift the positions of Washington and Israel. It's Tuesday,
Speaker 1: September twenty three, So Paul. Prime Minister Anthony Albernezi. He's
Speaker 1: in New York right now for the UN General Assembly,
Speaker 1: and during his visit he officially announced Australia's recognition of
Speaker 1: the state of Palestine.
Speaker 2: Today. I'm pleased to be here with Minister Wong to
Speaker 2: announce her effective today Sunday the twenty first of September
Speaker 2: two thy and twenty five, the Comwealth of Australia recognizes
Speaker 2: the State of Palestine.
Speaker 1: We of course knew that this was coming, but still,
Speaker 1: how significant is a moment.
Speaker 3: Like this, Well, I've got to say it's highly significant
Speaker 3: on a number of fronts. The first point to be made,
Speaker 3: I believe, is that have to recognize who is doing
Speaker 3: this recognizing, and it's three of the Five Eyes Nations.
Speaker 3: Now these are the nations who have not only security
Speaker 3: but intelligence sharing arrangements with the United States of America. So,
Speaker 3: in other words, the three of the foremost trusted US
Speaker 3: allies have put their signature to a call for the
Speaker 3: recognition of the Palestinian state, saying enough is enough.
Speaker 2: And this recognition being announced today in sinc with our
Speaker 2: international partners, the United Kingdom and Canada, means that three
Speaker 2: of the Five Eyes Nations are all making this decision today.
Speaker 3: And furthermore, the only way that we can end this
Speaker 3: seventy seven year old cycle of violence is to finally
Speaker 3: do what the United Nations wanted in nineteen forty eight,
Speaker 3: and that is recognize a Palestinian state.
Speaker 2: We recognize the legitimate, unlong held aspirations of the people
Speaker 2: of Palestine of a state of their own, and in
Speaker 2: doing so we reaffirm Australia's long standing position of two states.
Speaker 3: Now the three five partners will be joined by other
Speaker 3: friends of the United States and by the way of
Speaker 3: Israel in the next two days. Of course, is a
Speaker 3: key nation. It's already put its hand up. It will
Speaker 3: be joining the formal recognition at the UN in the
Speaker 3: next twenty four hours. Two years ago, these nations, including Australia,
Speaker 3: were very wary of criticizing Israel, very aware that the
Speaker 3: atrocities of Hamas gave Israel initially, if you like, a
Speaker 3: certain moral ascendancy. But the way in which Israel has
Speaker 3: waged the war against the Palestinians in Gaza is beyond
Speaker 3: the pale. And I think that what this recognition shows
Speaker 3: is that Australia and other countries will be less restrained
Speaker 3: in their criticism of Israel, and it does open the
Speaker 3: way for further sanctions against Israel if it doesn't comply.
Speaker 1: And all of these countries moving to recognize a Palestinian state,
Speaker 1: they say that this moment, this recognition, it has to
Speaker 1: be part of a peace process. But as it stands
Speaker 1: that doesn't exist, there is no peace process. So knowing that,
Speaker 1: can this really be any more than a symbolic.
Speaker 3: Gesture, Well, it is certainly a symbolic gesture, but it
Speaker 3: has a weight to it and in a sense it
Speaker 3: also puts pressure on the people making this symbolic gesture
Speaker 3: to do more. And this is a point, for example,
Speaker 3: that the Australian Greens picked up on Monday, saying okay,
Speaker 3: you've done this. Now you've got to apply sanctions. Now,
Speaker 3: you've even got to stop supplying parts for the Israeli
Speaker 3: war jets you know that are bombing Gaza. So there's
Speaker 3: pressure coming now back on Australia and the other New
Speaker 3: states calling for the recognition of Palestine to do more
Speaker 3: if this gesture, if this symbol doesn't work.
Speaker 1: And Israel is racing to make sure that there is
Speaker 1: as little as possible physically left on the map to
Speaker 1: actually form the basis of a state of power at Steyne,
Speaker 1: and Benjamin Nettniaho has said that there will be no
Speaker 1: Palestinian state to the west of the Jordan River at Mahnikido, and.
Speaker 4: I have another message for you. It will not happen
Speaker 4: a Palestinian state will not be established west of the
Speaker 4: Jordan River. For years, I have prevented the establishment of
Speaker 4: this terrorist state, despite tremendous pressure both domestically and internationally.
Speaker 1: So does the idea of a two state solution reflects
Speaker 1: the reality of what's happening on the ground now.
Speaker 3: It certainly doesn't reflect a reality of what's happening on
Speaker 3: the ground now with Nettin Yahoo, who, by the way,
Speaker 3: doesn't have it all his own way, even in Israel.
Speaker 3: As Anthony Albernizi has said on Monday in a number
Speaker 3: of interviews, hundreds of thousands of Israelis are against what
Speaker 3: their own government has done in the past two years,
Speaker 3: but more particularly.
Speaker 5: What it is doing now.
Speaker 3: So Nettin Yahoo, certainly, while he and his extremeist minister
Speaker 3: are still in power, will do everything they can to
Speaker 3: thwart the two state solution, and in fact have been
Speaker 3: doing so for over a decade. But I just remind
Speaker 3: you that what a state of Palestine should look like
Speaker 3: is not exactly a mystery. The idea could well be
Speaker 3: that we go back to the nineteen sixty seven borders.
Speaker 5: Certainly we wouldn't go back.
Speaker 3: To the borders and visited back in nineteen forty eight,
Speaker 3: and there is a precedent for this. Yeshtuk Rabin, who
Speaker 3: you might remember, in nineteen ninety three, signed the Oslo
Speaker 3: Accords on the south lawn of the White House. I
Speaker 3: was lucky enough to be there to witness it along
Speaker 3: with other Australian journalists. With the Palestinian leader Arafat. He
Speaker 3: agreed to trade what was called land for peace, in
Speaker 3: other words, to give back to the Palestinians the land
Speaker 3: that settlers at that stage had taken.
Speaker 6: Today we bear wedness to an extraordinary act in one
Speaker 6: of history's defining dramas, a drama that began in the
Speaker 6: time of our ancestors, when the word went forth from
Speaker 6: a slaver of land between the River Jordan and the
Speaker 6: Mediterranean Sea.
Speaker 3: Now we have to make a note here that Rabin
Speaker 3: paid his life for doing that. An extreme Israeli shot
Speaker 3: him for making these sorts of concessions to the Palestinians.
Speaker 1: And it's not just Israel against this. Of course, the
Speaker 1: US seem to attempt to scuttle the whole process before
Speaker 1: it began. It was denying the visas of eighty Palestinian officials,
Speaker 1: including the Palestinian President Mahmuda Bus. So tell me what happened.
Speaker 3: Well, it's quite simply, as you outlined, the US State
Speaker 3: Department refused to let Macmuda Bus and his party into
Speaker 3: the United States.
Speaker 5: As we know, the United.
Speaker 3: Nations is on the East River in New York, and
Speaker 3: this move is very rarely done because part of the
Speaker 3: agreement of America hosting the United Nations is that it
Speaker 3: will allow people to carry out their duties at the
Speaker 3: United Nations, including by the way in the past Soviet
Speaker 3: leaders and in the present people like Putin.
Speaker 5: It'll be interested to see if they do the same
Speaker 5: to him.
Speaker 3: But there is no doubt this is to express the
Speaker 3: United States opposition to the Palestinian authority having any say
Speaker 3: in any settlement and to deny, as far as it can,
Speaker 3: any sort of peace process and recognition going forward.
Speaker 5: Well, the United Nations.
Speaker 3: And indeed the Palestinian authority got around this by the
Speaker 3: UN agreeing to allow a Bus to address the Assembly
Speaker 3: virtually on a big video screen, so that in itself
Speaker 3: sends a message that in this issue, at this point
Speaker 3: of time, Israel and the United States are paro nations internationally.
Speaker 1: After the break, the Republicans trying to intimidate Australia to
Speaker 1: back down on Palestine. Paul, there had been signs that
Speaker 1: Anthony Aberzi would meet with Trump on this visit to
Speaker 1: the US, but it hasn't happened yet. Is it likely today?
Speaker 3: Well, Anthony Auberanzi's pretty relaxed about it. He says there
Speaker 3: will be a meeting and Ruby. The word around Canberra
Speaker 3: was that Albanzi and Trump had agreed to a face
Speaker 3: to face meeting on Sunday, a US time, but the
Speaker 3: President of course had to cancel that to attend the
Speaker 3: funeral of the right wing commentator Charlie Kirk.
Speaker 6: And so on that terrible day September tenth, twenty twenty five,
Speaker 6: our greatest evangelist.
Speaker 5: For American liberty became immortal. He's a minyr now for
Speaker 5: American freedom.
Speaker 3: The President is holding a reception in New York on Tuesday,
Speaker 3: American time. I believe there's almost two hundred world leaders there.
Speaker 3: So if Albertiz gets to meet him, he did say
Speaker 3: in one interview I heard on Monday that he'd be saying,
Speaker 3: get a nice to meet you personally. But he has
Speaker 3: made the point that even in the last ten days
Speaker 3: he's had a warm foam discussion with the President. He's
Speaker 3: not too worried about it. The Prime Minister says, it's
Speaker 3: a media obsession. It's one being pushed particularly by the
Speaker 3: Murdoch media and of course by the opposition. But the
Speaker 3: real touchstone is that the Australian American relationship in the
Speaker 3: broadest sense is on a pretty firm footing. Trump has
Speaker 3: said this to Albanezi, and we do know from the
Speaker 3: trip that Richard Miles, the Deputy Prime Minister, made to
Speaker 3: America three weeks ago that the Secretary of State Rubio
Speaker 3: assured Richard Miles that everything, if I can use the vernacular,
Speaker 3: is hunky dory between the US and Australia.
Speaker 5: So this meeting would be nice.
Speaker 3: But as Albanizi also points out that as of now,
Speaker 3: we've got the lowest tariff impositions of any country on Earth.
Speaker 3: So you know, meeting Trump doesn't seem to be a
Speaker 3: condition for getting on well enough with the United States.
Speaker 1: And let's talk a little about the Republican's Paul because
Speaker 1: in the lead up to this General Assembly, there was
Speaker 1: this letter that was released by twenty five Republican members
Speaker 1: for Congress, and it was warning Australia and the French
Speaker 1: and the Canadians and the British of possible reprisals if
Speaker 1: they went ahead to recognize the Palestinian state. So how
Speaker 1: should we interpret that kind of threat?
Speaker 3: Well, first of all is bluster and menace. And then
Speaker 3: we have to have a look at who's making this threat,
Speaker 3: And they're twenty five MAGA Republicans members of Congress, who
Speaker 3: by the way, aren't all that happy with Trump over
Speaker 3: his failure to release all the Epstein files. So they're
Speaker 3: the sort of people making these threats. Then you have
Speaker 3: to say, well, what are you going to do. You've
Speaker 3: already got tariffs on all your major trading partners, making
Speaker 3: goods and services dearer in America.
Speaker 5: What are you going to.
Speaker 3: Do to Australia. You need Australia more than we need
Speaker 3: you in terms of security alliances, Pine Gap and other
Speaker 3: arrangements like that. And furthermore, even though America already has
Speaker 3: got tariffs on our beef because the American cattle herd
Speaker 3: is down, they've been importing far more beef than they
Speaker 3: had for years and paying a higher price for it.
Speaker 3: This is just rubbish. It also shows that Australia is
Speaker 3: prepared to be more independent in its foreign policy, and
Speaker 3: to do so based on its own understanding of what's
Speaker 3: in our our national interest, and I would say what's
Speaker 3: in our moral worldview.
Speaker 1: And returning to recognition of Palestinian statehood. If this move
Speaker 1: is about putting pressure on both the United States and
Speaker 1: Israel to stop the war in Gaza, to date, both
Speaker 1: countries have only dug in further, So, do you think
Speaker 1: that Israel and the US can continue to ignore this pressure?
Speaker 3: Well, look, you'd have to say all the signs are
Speaker 3: that they will continue to ignore it. That then brings
Speaker 3: us back to what we were discussing earlier. What will
Speaker 3: Australia and the other major nations in Europe do to
Speaker 3: bring even more pressure on Israel to stop the catastrophic
Speaker 3: slaughter that's going on in Gaza.
Speaker 1: Well, Paul, thank you so much for your time.
Speaker 5: Thank you, Ruby bye.
Speaker 1: Also in the news today, Prime Minister Anthony Albanesi will
Speaker 1: for the first time address the UN General Assembly this
Speaker 1: week in place of Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who's delivered
Speaker 1: Australia's remarks to the UN in previous years. The Prime
Speaker 1: Minister will present Australia's emissions target of a sixty two
Speaker 1: to seventy percent reduction on two thousand and five levels
Speaker 1: by twenty thirty five, as well as host of forum
Speaker 1: to promote Australia's social media ban for under sixteens and
Speaker 1: The Australian Media and Communications Authority has begun its investigation
Speaker 1: into last week's Optus Triplo outage that's been linked to
Speaker 1: multiple deaths in South Australia and Western Australia. The outage
Speaker 1: resulted in the failure of more than six hundred emergency
Speaker 1: calls over thirteen hours, during which time three people are confirmed.
Speaker 4: To have died.
Speaker 1: Communications Minister Anika Wells says Optus will face significant consequences.
Speaker 1: I'm Ruby Jones, an I am see you tomorrow.