Sparks fly in Canberra over Mid-East war as Albanese pushes for ceasefire motion

Opposition leader condemns PM, saying he should focus solely on Oct 7 Hamas attack

- Jonathan Pearlman

SYDNEY – Australia's Parliament was supposed to feature a rare coming together of MPs on Oct 8 to mark the anniversary of Hamas' attack in southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023, but the attempt to achieve a solemn show of bipartisan solidarity quickly collapsed.

Introducing his motion, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called for the nation and the Parliament to "stand together... to preserve the harmony that makes this the greatest nation on earth".

Instead, the chamber erupted into a bitter clash between Mr Albanese and Opposition leader Peter Dutton over their opposing stances on the ongoing war in Gaza.

In a ferocious attack, Mr Dutton, who leads the Liberal-National Coalition and is a staunch supporter of Israel, condemned Mr Albanese for proposing a motion that included a call for a de-escalation of violence, a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon, and a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Mr Dutton said the motion should have focused solely on the massacre of Israelis on Oct 7, suggesting that Mr Albanese was acting for political purposes and was trying to appeal to voters in seats with large Muslim or left-wing cohorts that are pro-Palestinian.

"The Prime Minister is trying to speak out of both sides of his mouth and that is not something that we will support," Mr Dutton told Parliament. "This motion was supposed to be about Oct 7, about the loss of human life... This government has sought to walk both sides of the street in relation to what has been a very divisive debate for our country."