The Australian foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has been heckled by pro-Palestine advocates as she gave a speech warning that “disregard for international humanitarian law is increasing”.
Addressing the University of Tasmania on Tuesday night, Wong released Australia’s new humanitarian policy and repeated the government’s call for ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon.
But the speech was interrupted by pro-Palestine advocates who called on the government to take firm action against the Israeli government rather than express concerns.
Wong initially responded to the hecklers by saying that she recognised that “everyone’s voice matters” in a democracy and that “this is a very distressing [time]”. She added: “I don’t actually believe, and I’ve never believed, that we gain anything by shouting each other down.”
In a clip broadcast by the ABC, a person in the audience can be heard shouting: “What we need right now is leaders that have the backbone – that are willing to do something that isn’t just talk.”
Another person can be heard interjecting: “You’ve had chances at a national and international level to change what is happening in Lebanon, in Palestine … there’s blood on your hands.”
The clip shows Wong walking away from the podium temporarily while the interjections continued. A moderator said he was “asking both of you please to leave the venue”.
In an interview with ABC Radio Tasmania on Wednesday morning, Wong said it was “probably the 10th interruption” when she became “a bit frustrated I couldn’t finish a sentence”.
“Some of the things that were being said and shouted were not true,” she said. “One example is being told to stop bombing Lebanon. We are calling for a ceasefire in Lebanon.”
Over the past 12 months, the Labor government has ratcheted up its language about Israel’s military response to the 7 October attacks – including repeatedly stating that Palestinian civilians cannot pay the price of defeating Hamas.
But the government has found itself under increasing domestic political pressure from the Greens, which is calling for sanctions against the Israeli government, and the Coalition, which says Labor is wrong to “abandon” Israel.
Wong used the speech on Tuesday night to say the suffering across the Middle East “must end” and reaffirmed “our call for a diplomatic solution, de-escalation and ceasefire in Lebanon”.
Sharpening a domestic political message, Wong said the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, was wrong to accuse the Australian government of being at odds with its allies, including the US, for supporting a ceasefire in Lebanon.
“Now Mr Dutton has realised it is he who is at odds with the international community – but he still can’t bring himself to back a ceasefire,” Wong said.
“I can’t recall a single time over the past year that Mr Dutton has called for the protection of civilians, or for the upholding of international law. He never utters a word of concern for innocent Palestinians and Lebanese civilians.”
Wong accused the Greens, meanwhile, of being “just as absolutist”.
Last Tuesday, Dutton told parliament that the Coalition would not support the government’s motion marking the first anniversary of the 7 October Hamas attacks, in part because it included calls for de-escalation and ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon.
Dutton told parliament that “none of us support the loss of civilian life” but he blamed Hamas for “using people as human shields”.
The Australian government has repeatedly condemned the Hamas attacks and called for the release of hostages still held in Gaza, but it has also said the manner in which Israel defends itself matters and has called for a ceasefire since December.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Wong stepped up her language by saying Australia “condemns the killing of innocent civilians by Israel in recent operations in Gaza” and insisting that the humanitarian situation in northern Gaza was “unacceptable”.
Australia’s peak body for humanitarian agencies accused the Albanese government of a lack of consistency, after it imposed new sanctions on five individuals linked to Iran’s missile program.
The Australian Council for International Development said it was “horrified at the rising bombardment and civilian death toll in northern Gaza over the last several days” and urged the Australian government “to assert accountability and apply autonomous sanctions on Israeli officials”.
The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network said it condemned the “sickening” and “outrageous display of double standards”.
Its president, Nasser Mashni, said: “If the Australian government truly cared about human rights, it would have sanctioned Israel a long time ago. This is complicity in genocide, plain and simple.”
